Tis the season, (no not that season)

Tis the season is right, it is Flu, Cold, RSV, COVID season all over the country. While that is the case year after year, it doesn’t lessen the effect on a company’s productivity.

 Unexpected absences are a way of life in the production world, (and others). Production schedules are set in advance of a workday, and day-of call-in notice of being absent can send reverberations through the production floor.

Cross training, as we do here at PlastiCert, is crucial in helping to maintain on time delivery. That is a reactionary solution though, and as all good engineers know, problems need to be tackled at the root cause.

Companies need to advocate vaccinations and good health practices to prevent call-in sick days before they happen.

Why?

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 17 million workdays are lost each year to influenza related illness.

The average absence is 2-3 days for influenza, longer for COVID and RSV (compared to the typical single day attributed to the post Sunday Night football game revelry)

Approximately 60-80% of employees report working while they have symptoms, affecting those that are typically not the frequent call-in types.

With society reopening and traveling more, exposure is not a local or regional thing, the picture is nationwide or even global.

Tens of thousands of deaths occur each year due to influenza and RSV.

Advocating vaccinations for both your coworkers AND their children can prevent unnecessary lost time incidents, but also save lives.

The Flu vaccine should be taken in the winter, even now in January. The CDC predicts which strains will be prevalent each year, meaning it changes. With 4 different strains, 2 each of Type A and Type B influenza, getting a flu shot last year may have little effectiveness the following year. At present, only 44% of the population has been vaccinated for influenza.

For COVID, while 80+% of the population received the initial set of two vaccine shots for COVID, LESS THAN 20% OF THE U.S. POPULATION HAS RECEIVED THE UPDATED BOOSTER.

RSV is a new vaccine for this year. Taking this vaccine is a decision that should be made between a person and their health provider based on benefits and risks.

To date, less than 15% of the adult population has taken this vaccine. (There is no vaccine for children yet)

RSV is as commonly implicated in hospitalizations and death as influenza.

If 66% of people eligible people received it, the outpatient care workload would be reduced by 81%, hospitalization and death reduced by 91-92%!!!

There is no vaccine for children, so people can take it home and pass it on to them where their body will have to fight the infection on its own.

Employers should provide information and advocate for their coworkers to get vaccinated.

Not because the company will be less efficient.

Not because deliveries and KPIs will suffer.

Because vaccines will help prevent illness and, in the end, save lives.