coronavirus. Image via Peter Pan Seafoods.
Peter Pan Seafoods has begun requiring employees to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus for the protection of themselves and communities in which they work.
“Our team often works in close quarters and in remote communities with limited access to health care resources, Rodger May, president and chief growth officer, explained as the seafood processing company implemented the requirement on Sept. 1. “This is the best way I know to keep them and the communities we work in as healthy as possible.”
The COVID-19 policy has gone into effect in tiers, according to the company, with the first tier including employees at corporate headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., the Seattle warehouse and processing and support facilities at Valdez, Port Moller, Dillingham Sand Point and Naknek.
All but a very few of those employees are already vaccinated, the company has said.
Since the vaccines first became available to seafood workers in Alaska, Peter Pan Seafoods has encouraged and provided opportunity for all employees to get vaccinated, and like other major seafood processors, has taken further steps to ensure the safety of employees and communities they work in as the pandemic spread.
Although the vaccination policy does not apply to Peter Pan’s fleet, the company has, however made vaccines available to the fleet since April 2021. Peter Pan has also said that it’s accepting requests for religious and medical exemptions.