HCMC – Some 17% of companies that participated in a survey conducted last month by the Vietnam Human Resources Association and Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions firm, have already arranged or are arranging the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines for their employees and more than half are considering doing so.
Amid news of the development and availability of Covid-19 vaccines, an increasing number of enterprises in Vietnam have sought information to come up with plans to vaccinate their workforce.
In addition, 70% of the 172 respondents said they were working on the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines for the dependents of their employees. Of these, two-thirds of the respondents indicated that the dependents would include the spouse and children, while half of them said they would buy Covid-19 vaccines for the parents of employees and of the employee’s spouse as well.
Half of the companies said they would pay for the vaccines in full, while a quarter said they would subsidise the cost. The remaining 25% said they had not decided what to do yet.
As for the employees’ dependents, about one third of the companies would pay for their vaccines in full, while half of them would pass on the cost to their employees.
The survey also revealed that a quarter of the respondents have already covered the vaccination costs of their employees.
Among those that have not, 73% indicated that they would consider covering Covid-19 vaccination costs in their welfare programs from next year. When considering the welfare programs, 57% of companies said they would add the Covid-19 vaccination as an independent program and 37% would add it to their current health insurance programs.
When asked about a certification such as the “vaccine passport”, up to 81% of the companies supported this initiative.
Bui Thi Hoang Yen, head of Health and Benefits at Willis Towers Watson Vietnam, said the Covid-19 outbreak was showing signs of a decline in European and American countries, but the cases continued to increase in some parts of Asia. One of the reasons is that Asian countries seem to be slower in implementing their vaccination strategies.
Vaccination is the ultimate solution to control the coronavirus. In addition to relying on the Government’s policies, employers can help speed up the vaccination in Vietnam. Along with the preparation of vaccination plans, employers in the country are paying great attention to the health and wellbeing of their employees.
