Sealord mulls mandatory Covid vaccination for staff

Sealord, the country’s largest fishing company, is considering introducing mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for most of its staff as the Government moves from a strategy of elimination to mitigation.

The Nelson-based seafood company has asked for feedback by December 3 on a proposal to mandate double vaccinations and ongoing booster vaccinations for all staff employed on vessels, land-based factories and supporting essential employees, instore sales and marketing teams and nonessential staff who are required to be on site when Covid-19 alert levels recommend doing so.

Chief executive Doug Paulin said the proposal would impact about 800 of its 1200 New Zealand staff. Its Australian staff are already fully vaccinated.

If the proposal went ahead, staff in affected roles would have four weeks to get their first vaccination and a further six weeks for the second vaccination, unless they had a medical exemption. If there were no alternative employment options, staff who refused would be fired with four weeks’ notice unless they then began the vaccination process.

Feedback on the proposal will determine whether the company will be in a position to make a decision on mandates by the time its factories stop for Christmas on December 10, or whether it will decide over the Christmas break before factories start up again on January 10 next year, Paulin said.

‘‘We expect transmission rates to go up and for Covid to reappear in the Nelson area and indeed have much more risk of it showing up on our site than what we have had historically in this area,’’ he said.

A company survey showed between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of staff were fully vaccinated. While no decision had been made, Paulin said he personally felt the company needed a vaccination rate well above 80 per cent to ensure its staff weren’t exposed to any higher risk at work than out in the community.

Sealord had a disparate group of workers, from its Nelson office and factory workers to crews coming from small rural communities around the country, and vaccination rates followed the national trend, with workers in urban centres more likely to be vaccinated, he said.