With the delta variant rapidly spreading to unvaccinated people across the country, Tyson Foods on Tuesday announced it will require all its U.S. employees to receive the COVID vaccine.
The company, which dealt with outbreaks at its meat plants during the height of the pandemic last year, said the move makes Tyson the largest U.S. food company to require COVID-19 vaccinations for its entire workforce.
The United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents over 24,000 unionized front-line workers at Tyson plants across the country, including in Dakota City, Nebraska, and Storm Lake, Iowa, immediately raised serious concerns about the company implementing the mandate "before the FDA has fully approved the vaccine."
Almost half of Tyson's 120,000 workers in the U.S. have been vaccinated and coronavirus infection rates among employees remain low, Tyson said in a statement.