DETROIT – Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4, 2022 or get tested for the virus weekly.
The federal government released 490 pages of rules governing that vaccine mandate. The mandate covers around 84 million people.
A consortium of Chambers of Commerce is asking the government to rethink the mandate.
“The problem with this mandate is, it doesn’t really get to the heart of the issue,” Wendy Block, from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said. “It’s causing employees to dig in further. Those vaccine reluctant and vaccine resistant employees -- They have already said, ‘We are going to just leave those employers.’”
Workforce shortages are everywhere and so are the “we’re hiring” signs.
Liz Blondy owns Canine To Five and has offered up to $250 in incentives for her staff to get vaccinated and less than 30% of her team is.
The care the dogs receive has made the businesses so successful that what started as a small operation in Midtown Detroit has grown to two more locations.
That means that Blondy is employing 101 people. She’s just over the 100 employee limit and her workers will be required to be fully vaccinated or get tested weekly.
“The great workers we have here, do we send them away because they have chosen not to be vaccinated?” Blondy said.
Blondy said she already has 20 positions open.
“My job is to coach them to take amazing care of the dogs and do a great job when they’re at Canine to Five. I can’t tell them what to do in their personal lives. I can’t tell them what to do with their bodies. So this is going to be a struggle,” Blondy said.