AUTHOR=Saitone Tina L. , Schaefer K. Aleks , Scheitrum Daniel P. 

TITLE=Leveraging meatpacking ownership concentration and community centrality to improve disease resiliency

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.989876

DOI=10.3389/fsufs.2022.989876

ISSN=2571-581X

ABSTRACT=The U.S. meat processing sector has been subject to ampli ed scrutiny after workers
exhibited disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths. In re-
sponse, Tyson Foods one of the largest meat packers in the country mandated that
its employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 by November 1, 2021. In this paper,
we investigate the impact that the Tyson vaccine mandate had on vaccine uptake, in-
fection rates, and deaths in counties where Tyson processing facilities are located. We
 nd that the mandate resulted in approximately 35,000 additional vaccinations. The
resultant vaccine uptake avoided 98 COVID-19 infections per day and nearly 75 COVID-
19-related deaths; the associated public health savings total $45.4 million. Employee
health-related interventions at the corporate level can leverage industry ownership con-
centration and the centrality of packing operations in host communities to improve
health outcomes and disease resiliency well beyond the packing operations.