How Companies Can Take Action

In July 2021, the Health Action Alliance (HAA) launched a coordinated effort by employers, business groups and public health organizations to help families vaccinate their children against COVID-19 and catch up on other routine immunizations that may have been delayed during the pandemic. HAA continues to lead this effort with more than two dozen business and public health partners calling on employers across the country to take one or more of the following actions to support employees with children:

• Provide paid time off for employees with children to attend vaccine appointments, care for children recovering from vaccine side effects, and catch up on well-child visits that may have been postponed during the pandemic.
• Remove barriers associated with childhood vaccination by offering transportation, language support or internet access for scheduling appointments.
• Connect families to free or discounted child care if they need support managing care for multiple children during vaccine appointments.
• Partner with local health departments to host on-site or near-site workplace vaccination clinics for employees and their families.
• Offer employee incentives to encourage childhood vaccinations.

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The Business Case

For more than a year and a half, families across the United States have been expected to help children manage a number of difficult challenges, including remote learning and soaring mental health concerns brought on by the pandemic, while also balancing work and numerous other responsibilities. Those unable to do so lost their jobs or had to make the difficult decision to stop working in order to care for their family. This has been especially difficult for women in the workforce, particularly those in lower income families and from communities of color.

Helping children re-engage with others—and remain in school, daycare and with their peers—must be a priority for businesses to reduce employee absenteeism and turnover. It must also be a priority for businesses that aim to improve equity, since women, communities of color and lower income families have borne the brunt of the childcare crisis and economic impacts of the pandemic.

Half of all lower-income parents, making $50,000 or less annually, are concerned about being able to take time off to get their 5-11 year olds vaccinated, according to an October 2021 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). That’s more than double the rate for parents with higher incomes. Their concerns also indicate that traveling to a vaccine site and cost are barriers to vaccination. Employers can help remove these barriers and, by doing so, maintain consistency in their workforce.

As companies seek to recruit workers, improve employee retention and boost productivity, they can help themselves by ensuring that children of employees are safe and healthy. Vaccinating children will help keep schools open, reduce employee absenteeism and mitigate challenges associated with juggling virtual learning and remote working for parents. According to the most recent CDC data, nearly half of all children ages 12-17 are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The KFF poll indicates that nearly 3 in 10 parents plan to vaccinate their 5 to 11 year old children as soon as possible.

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The Public Health Case

Public health experts say it is important to vaccinate children to protect them from contracting COVID-19, build immunity in the wider population, and protect others who aren’t yet eligible for vaccines. COVID-19 was the 8th leading cause of death for children ages 5 to 11 in the last year. Children ages 5 to 11 are over-represented as a proportion of all COVID-19 cases nationally. And the CDC has found that the hospitalization rate for COVID-19 in adolescents was about three times greater than hospitalizations linked to influenza over three recent flu seasons, lending urgency to the drive to vaccinate children. Children can also transmit the virus and must still quarantine if exposed.

The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that all children and adolescents ages 5 and older get vaccinated for COVID-19. The CDC is also urging parents to get their children caught up on routine vaccinations, following a decline in the number of inoculations for diseases like measles as the pandemic forced restrictions, including shelter-at-home orders, last year.

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Benefits of Participation

As part of this coordinated effort, employers across the country are being invited to share their specific company actions to support employees who want to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 and catch up on other routine immunizations. Companies that choose to participate will receive the following benefits:

• A press release template to announce your company’s commitment.
• Logo placement on a dedicated page on the Health Action Alliance website along with a short description of your company’s action.
• Potential media opportunities to highlight your company’s commitment.
• Promotional Toolkit to share your participation on social media and helpful messaging for your workforce. We are encouraging all participating companies to activate their commitments in preparation for the holiday season.

As part of this effort, the Health Action Alliance and its partners invite companies to share their specific actions to support families, which may be featured in a digital, social and earned media campaign to drive awareness and inspire action across the private sector. Companies will receive an Employer Toolkit with sample policies, employee fact sheets and Q&A, social media tools, educational videos and other assets to help them activate their commitment.

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