Tyson official says company has spent $700 million battling COVID-19

The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·2 min read

Aug. 2—Shane Miller, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork unit of Tyson Foods, testified at a congressional hearing last week and among other things updated lawmakers on the company's efforts to combat COVID-19.

He said that more than 56,000 Tyson employees, out of a workforce of 120,000, had been vaccinated.

Miller also said:

—Tyson has spent more than $700 million related to COVID-19, including buying masks, face shields and temperature scanners, installing protective barriers and providing onsite testing and vaccinations. That also includes costs associated with worker health and availability, plant downtime, plant sanitization, COVID-19 testing, as well as bonuses the company said it paid to front-line employees. Some of those costs can be partially offset by Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act credits.

—Tyson has partnered with an independent medical provider to bring medical services on-site, and hired an additional 200 nurses and its first chief medical officer.

"This year, so far, we have invested countless hours educating our team members, in dozens of languages, about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination," Miller said in a statement. "We have also conducted more than 100 onsite vaccination events at our facilities and partnered with community leaders. To further encourage vaccinations, our team members who accessed their vaccination offsite received four hours of paid leave per dose. In April this year, we also expanded our onsite vaccination efforts to make the families of team members eligible.

" ... Early in the pandemic, when personal protective equipment (PPE) was scarce, we chartered transportation ourselves, so that we could source the PPE more quickly, and better protect team members and their families."

Based in Springdale, Arkansas, the company has poultry processing operation in Noel and Monett in Southwest Missouri. The Noel plant was the site of an outbreak last year as hundreds of workers tested positive for COVID-19.