Get Ahead of the Pack – Plan for the Mandates Now

The business world has been buzzing since President Joe Biden announced a series of proposals to aggressively combat the COVID-19 pandemic, after a new variant sent new cases spiking across the country. The one that has HR managers’ attention, though, is a vaccination or testing requirement for employers with more than 100 employees. It is expected they will either need to make sure their employees are vaccinated or have them submit to weekly COVID testing. 

While we all wait for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue the official emergency temporary standard (ETS) on the matter, there will be a lot of confusion about what employers can expect. Nearly every community has established vaccination sites and the shots are widely available. We have largely figured that supply chain out. Testing, though… that’s a different story.

RxGenomix is already receiving large orders for tests from numerous employers. “We expect to see an unprecedented acceleration of demand for access to COVID testing, unlike anything we have seen elsewhere in the healthcare marketplace,” said RxGenomix COO Blake Keller, PharmD.  “RxGenomix has for months been working with multiple COVID-19 Antigen Test manufacturers and suppliers as they ramp production and attempt to solidify the supply chain. That said, the complexities of meeting the anticipated demand generated by employer groups will be confusing and frustrating to HR departments, procurement professionals and the executive teams of companies that must comply with the COVID mandate and the ETS.  Without a trusted partner like RxGenomix, ensuring compliance and gaining access to these coveted tests will challenging at best.”

So what can employers do right now?

• Survey your population to see who is vaccinated, and who plans to vaccinate
• Check on your state requirements – is there already a testing requirement?
• Establish a point person to address the upcoming ETS
• Establish a company policy – are you going to require vaccination? Are you going to incentivize it? Who will pay for the testing if it’s not covered in some other way – the company or the employee? 
• Develop a plan for how you are going to document the vaccination status and testing efforts.
• Combine your survey results with your employees’ work location (taking into account remote workers may be exempt) and do the math on how many tests you might need for a weekly testing requirement.
• Start working with testing suppliers now – preferably those shipping by air – to get in line for test materials.

No one knows exactly what will be included in the ETS, but RxGenomix is already working with employers to plan for the eventual requirements and it’s obvious that planning ahead and acting early is going to be the key to success. Not only will you be able to secure the testing supplies you’ll need at a lower cost, but you’ll end up saving time in the long run. And if last winter’s COVID spike is any indicator, you won’t just be satisfying a COVID testing mandate, but protecting your business and everyone you count on to keep the doors open.