Tyson Foods Inc. will offer free, onsite COVID-19 vaccinations this week to thousands of frontline team members in Arkansas, where 20 percent of the company’s U.S. workforce is based, as well as Kansas and North Carolina. The vaccines are being provided in conjunction with Matrix Medical and local health departments in each of the three states, where food processing workers are among the priority group now eligible for vaccination.

“We’ve been working with Matrix Medical and health department officials to prepare for this moment and we’re ready,” said Tom Brower, senior vice president of Health and Safety for Tyson Foods. “We’re pleased to offer our team members convenient access to the vaccine, and we appreciate state leaders recognizing the essential role they play in feeding the world.”

Tyson Foods officials expect many of the company’s 24,000 Arkansas employees to be vaccinated during onsite events, beginning at its Fayetteville, Arkansas, plant on Tuesday, March 9 and its Berry St. plant in Springdale on Wednesday, March 10.

Additional vaccination events are planned this week for Tyson team members in Garden City, Kansas, and at Tyson facilities in Claremont, Monroe, Sanford and Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Nearly 10,000 of the company’s U.S employees have recently been vaccinated either at onsite events or through an external source. Approximately 1,300 team members were vaccinated March 3-5 at Tyson’s Waterloo, Iowa, pork plant. Photos and video of the Waterloo event are available for download.

In preparation for vaccinations, Tyson Foods has been providing expert resources and education about the vaccine to team members. This information is available in multiple languages and team members also have access to a hotline to ask questions. In addition to offering free, on-site vaccinations, the company also recently announced that it is compensating workers for up to four hours of regular pay if they are vaccinated outside of their normal shift or through an external source.

Tyson Foods’ vaccination efforts are the latest in a series of measures the company has taken to fight COVID-19. Since the spring of 2020, the company invested hundreds of millions of dollars to transform its U.S. facilities with protective measures, from walk-through temperature scanners and workstation dividers to social distance monitors and always-on testing, as well as provide additional team member pay and benefits. Tyson Foods has also expanded its health services staff, added a chief medical officer and plans to pilot health clinics for team members and their families early this year.

Source: Tyson Foods Inc.