Companies should make it easy for staff to go for vaccination: Singapore's business leaders

SWITCHING from an "opt-in" to an "opt-out" process was what boosted Covid-19 vaccination rates at ground handler and in-flight caterer SATS, as "inertia" was a key reason for lower volunteer rates initially.

During a webinar organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) on Thursday, Alex Hungate, president and chief executive of SATS, said focus group discussions with employees showed that while people were not necessarily against taking the vaccine, they were also not highly motivated to go and speak to a doctor or professional about their concerns or questions.

"What we found was that the inertia of people not having time or making time to go and have that conversation was the main barrier," Mr Hungate said.

"You have to make it very easy for people to have that conversation with a healthcare professional and very easy for them to get vaccinated right away and not make it something that is inconvenient for them or that they have to do in their free time.

"It's the company's obligation to make that time for them," he added.

Agreeing with the sentiment, fellow panellist Melvyn Wong, director of Raffles Physicians at Raffles Medical Group, added that it is important to communicate information about the vaccines and vaccination process with employees in a language that is understandable and free of jargon.

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While data analytics had suggested that the vaccination rate would only hit about 70 per cent if it is carried out on a voluntary basis, the company has now reached a rate of over 90 per cent, said Mr Hungate.

Keynote speaker and panellist Tan Chorh Chuan, chief health scientist at the Ministry of Health, said about 60 to 70 per cent of the population would need to be immunised to achieve herd immunity, assuming a vaccine is 100 per cent effective.

The two vaccines approved for use in Singapore, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have a 95 per cent and 94 per cent effectiveness respectively, according to clinical trials.

SBF's webinar on Covid-19 vaccinations, public health scenarios and implications for businesses drew about 1,000 participants, including C-level executives, senior management and human resources directors and managers.

One participant asked if companies should differentiate between employees who have been vaccinated and those who have not, whether on health reasons or simply because they do not want to.

Mr Hungate said there is a certain amount of routine testing done in the aviation industry, and those who are not vaccinated may need to be tested more frequently.

Panellist Kwee Wei-Lin, president of the Singapore Hotel Association, said this is why going for vaccination is an incentive for those in the hospitality industry as well. She added that the industry sees vaccination as an additional "tool" in the fight against Covid-19, on top of a list of protocols including safe-distancing measures, masks and split teams.

Mr Hungate added that the company will continue to be in dialogue with those who opt out, to see if they change their mind.

"But we're not taking the position of 'no vaccine, no job' - we would never do that. We don't think that's ethically or morally acceptable to say that," he said.

Another participant asked if the availability of vaccines is a game changer and whether companies should relook their strategies to better capture shifts in consumer behaviour.

Noting that the shift to e-commerce is driving a lot of air freight demand, Mr Hungate said: "The idea of sovereign supply chain for medical and vaccine is very important now to many governments and therefore there's an increased premium on the resiliency of supply chain, which is a big opportunity for Singapore as well."

He added that the company has been able to spend time implementing digital platforms while accelerating its push into non-aviation revenue streams, such as providing central kitchen services to restaurants.

Ms Kwee said 90 per cent of the hotel industry's business used to come from international travel, and they have had to quickly pivot to providing rooms to those on stay-home notice and staycations as well as ramping up their food and beverage offerings.

Dr Wong said although Raffles Medical developed a digital health platform with telemedicine capabilities in 2018, the company finally "crossed the chasm of adoption in 2020", with a seven-fold increase, of which 66 per cent of the cases were new patients.

It also worked more closely with corporate clients to support their business continuity planning, while giving them advice for workplace adjustments.