Chamber Details Vaccine, Testing Partnerships for Employers
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The Indiana Chamber of Commerce has announced new partnerships to help employers with on-site vaccine clinics and access to COVID-19 testing. The chamber says the goal is to help improve Indiana’s low vaccination rate and reduce the number of hospitalizations.
Chamber President Kevin Brinegar says while the chamber does not support government mandates for COVID-19 vaccinations, it has become “increasingly clear that a vaccinated workforce is absolutely vital to Indiana’s future economic health.”
“Many Hoosier businesses can’t afford to have another COVID outbreak or temporarily close,” said Brinegar. “Everyone has been through a lot the past two years and we all want the pandemic to be behind us but that is simply not the case yet. We have to remain vigilant and work together to ensure workplaces are as safe and virus-free as possible and remain in operation.”
The chamber’s Wellness Council of Indiana is partnering with the Franciscan Health Immunization Department to offer free Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine clinics on site to employers in all 92 counties. The clinics will offer both the initial vaccines and boosters.
The clinics will have a 15-person requirement for the free service, and that can include employees and dependents, or a combination of two small employers. There will be a $50 travel fee if the 15-person threshold cannot be met.
Additionally, the chamber is partnering with Patients Choice Laboratories to provide RT-PCR COVID testing throughout the state. Employers that need to test multiple employees can request test kits, which will be shipped to them with instructions for employees on how to collect test samples. Patients Choice will then pick up the tests for analysis.
“With at-home rapid tests in such scarce supply, this is a viable and available alternative to help stem the spread of the virus,” Brinegar said. “We know there is capacity at Patients Choice Laboratories. The state of Indiana also has a database of additional testing resources that can be helpful for employers and their workers.”
The chamber says the partnerships are part of its expanded COVID Stops Here Campaign.