Discovery has become the first JSE-listed company to announce mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for all staff, a move that may fuel a debate about whether other companies should follow a growing international trend.
CEO Adrian Gore, who founded Discovery in 1992, told Business Day that the decision to require staff to be vaccinated as of 2022 was a moral imperative for a company that had lost about 14,000 clients and more than 20 staff members to
Covid-19.
The company announced the decision when it released its annual results for the year ended June 2021, saying the policy was a “clear moral and social obligation” informed by its core purpose to make people healthier. It also had a legal obligation to protect employees.
Discovery sought legal advice on whether to institute a mandatory vaccination policy, said Gore, who also disclosed that about 49% of Discovery’s roughly 10,000 staff members, including contractors and temporary workers, had already been fully vaccinated. The low number was due to a large portion of the staff being in younger age groups that only recently became eligible for vaccination.
“You need more than just gentle nudges, you need people to take a stand,” said Gore. “We’re pretty resolved and I don’t fear that it will do the opposite [to encouraging vaccination]. I think most people are reasonable.”
Discovery, whose businesses range from administering medical aid funds to banking, joins a trend that accelerated in the US after the BioNTech/Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, which is being used in SA, got full regulatory approval. Last week, Goldman Sachs became the latest US bank to require vaccines at its premises.
While vaccine mandates have been controversial, proponents have cited clear scientific evidence that vaccines greatly reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death from Covid-19, while the unvaccinated have a greater chance of transmitting the virus.
SA’s vaccination programme has picked up after initial delays, but only 15% of the adult population has been fully immunised so far. Getting Covid-19 under control would reduce the chances of severe lockdowns such as those that caused SA’s economy to shrink 6.4% and lose more than 1-million jobs during 2020.
“The vaccine rollout has been so successful [but] we never thought our problem would be demand,” Gore said.
“We’ve got sites around the country that don’t have people going to them. It’s not a theoretical issue. We’ve had a third wave of deaths. We’ve got to save people from dying.”
SA has been the hardest hit African country with more than 82,000 registered deaths, although researchers estimate the true figure is about three times higher.
While health minister Joe Phaahla told parliament this week the government is exploring the scope for businesses and public amenities to require proof of vaccination, there is no consensus on the issue.
The Minerals Council SA said it was concerned about constitutional implications, while short-term insurer Santam said it was considering following Discovery’s example.
Private hospital group Netcare and the Western Cape provincial government said vaccination remained voluntary for their employees.
“Making something mandatory has a number of potential implications, including potential constitutional implications, which we need to be circumspect about,” Minerals Council CEO Roger Baxter said.
None of its members had made vaccination compulsory and were instead focused on expanding access and persuading employees that getting a shot was an important aspect of fighting the pandemic.
The mining sector aimed to vaccinate 80% of its employees by October, said Baxter.
Netcare CEO Richard Friedland said 80% of the company’s staff had been vaccinated.
“We have been careful to balance individuals’ constitutional rights with associated workplace risks and as of yet, have not made vaccination mandatory,” he said.
Western Cape premier Alan Winde said the provincial government was committed to making access to vaccinations easier, to save lives and jobs.
“We are also finding ways to incentivise vaccinations in innovative ways,” he said. Western Cape has offered free entry to museums during Heritage month to people who have been vaccinated.
Santam CEO Lizé Lambrechts said the company believed getting vaccinated “is the right thing to do for everyone” and it had encouraged its staff to do so.
“Certainly, we are having serious discussions at Santam on how we want to go forward. We don’t have a position at
the moment.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.