Since the Covid-19 pandemic began last year, a segment of conservatives in this country have been sure that government overreach, not the virus, was the real enemy. I’m talking about the people who railed against mask mandates from the start. The ones who screamed that closing businesses to halt the spread was worse than the coronavirus and are now busy warning against government-issued “vaccine passports.”
Hopefully, those same people are glad to learn that their laissez-faire approach to epidemiology is working. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tweeted Friday that the federal government won’t be ordering people to get vaccinated any time soon. Instead, in the absence of government regulation and bureaucratic diktats, American corporations are stepping in. And the free market has spoken clearly: Vaccination mandates are good.
The free market has spoken clearly: Vaccination mandates are good.
Walmart is the largest private employer in the U.S., with nearly 1.6 million employees nationwide. On Friday, the company’s president and CEO informed staffers in a memo that the company will “require all market, regional and divisional associates who work in multiple facilities and all campus office associates to be vaccinated by Oct. 4.”
While it’s a huge step, that doesn’t mean all million-plus blue-vested workers will be required to get their shots. Friday’s memo covers only corporate staff members, not the folks laboring in Walmart stores, Sam’s Clubs and distribution centers. But the company is offering incentives to those employees, giving every staffer $150 to get vaccinated — and, more important for some hesitant low-wage people who’ve been reluctant to get inoculated, paid time off to recover from any side effects.
More expansive was the Walt Disney Co.’s order, which also dropped Friday. The House of Mouse is requiring all salaried and nonunion hourly employees to get vaccinated in the next 60 days. That mandate covers workers at Disney’s theme parks, ABC networks, and the various movie studios under its massive umbrella.
Disney’s and Walmart’s new policies are the latest in a string of recent edicts issued by other major companies. Google and Facebook have demanded that workers returning to offices show proof of vaccination. Netflix is requiring cast members shooting its original TV shows and movies in the U.S. to be vaccinated. And The Washington Post told staff members last week that every one of them will need to show proof of vaccination to get back into their offices.
Is relying on businesses to leverage the threat of unemployment to get people vaccinated ideal? No, absolutely not. Using potential poverty as a cudgel right when pandemic-related unemployment benefits are due to expire feels especially weird. But it’s the tool we have right now as the Food and Drug Administration works to give full approval to the various vaccines and in the face of active resistance from right-wing media figures and their audiences.








