Vaccines are a Complicated Issue
Greetings, CoolSys Nation! The air is getting crisp in the mornings here in northern Texas, so it looks like our long, hot summer is starting to give way to fall. I want to thank all of you for your hard work over this busy summer season, especially with extra challenges from the continued effects of COVID-19.
This month’s article is about Covid 19, which remains serious business. Over 650,000 people have died in the U.S. since the beginning of the pandemic, and the recent spike in cases has created more problems for hospitals, schools, employers, and hard-working families all over the country.
For those of you who haven’t watched my recent video, I’m going to repeat here some of what I said there to start us off.
At CoolSys, we communicated to you early on that we had no intention of mandating vaccines for our employees. As a veteran and proud American I believe we should have the freedom to choose whether or not to get vaccinated. I chose to get vaccinated because I’m an old guy and, for me, any potential risks from the vaccine are out weighted by the benefits.
I want you to know that CoolSys’ position not to mandate vaccines remains the same. You may have heard that President Biden has imposed new vaccine rules on employers with more than 100 employees, federal employees, and health care workers in an attempt to contain the latest surge of Covid-19. I ask that you sit tight on that one as we learn more details about the President’s orders and what they mean in the days to come. These orders will almost certainly face legal challenges so we’ll need to let it play out, and we just don’t know what the final rules will look like (if they happen at all).
In the meantime, several times a week now we hear from another customer mandating that anyone servicing their sites be fully vaccinated and that CoolSys provides proof of vaccination upon request. As the number of customers with these requirements grow, it becomes increasingly important that we know who among our employees are vaccinated and who isn’t, so we can schedule and dispatch our technicians accordingly.
In the next few days, you’ll receive an email from the CoolSys Feedback Center with a link to a questionnaire designed to help us poll who has been vaccinated. We ask that all employees complete this questionnaire, whether you’re vaccinated or not. The questionnaire has an option that allows you to not to disclose your vaccination status, if that is your choice.
If you’re vaccinated, we ask that you send us your vaccine card so we can keep it on file in case a customer requests it, just like we do your EPA card. We are prepared to reward you for being fully vaccinated. Between now and the end of 2021 you will earn $200.00 when you provide proof of your fully vaccinated status.
If you’ve already provided us with proof of vaccinated status and received a $25.00 gift card, we thank you and will “true up your reward” to $200.00. Stay tuned for more details on this coming soon.
Check out the COVID-19 update for more information on how to respond to our questionnaire, submit proof of full vaccination, and earn your reward.
As I said, COVID remains serious business. Throughout the pandemic we’ve prioritized your health and safety as much as possible and we’ll continue to do so. We want you to make it home safely to your family every night, and we want to make sure you’re healthy and well and able to work.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones, and please be safe!