Governor urges business community to enforce vaccine mandates for employees

Amid rising COVID-19 cases across the Commonwealth, Governor Andy Beshear called on Kentucky’s business community Thursday to require vaccines for employees in an effort to stymie the spread of the virus.

“Through private-sector leadership, we see more individuals getting vaccinated that we otherwise could not reach as state government,” Beshear said at a Frankfort event where he was joined by leaders of various health care and hospital systems from different areas of the state, all of whom have required vaccinations of their workers.

Wednesday’s update on COVID-19 showed a positivity rate of more than 10 percent among Kentuckians with more than 2,500 Kentuckians testing positive for the virus, which are among the highest numbers since February when the vaccine was not yet widely available.

Also, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce launched its “Covid Stops Here” campaign yesterday, which will recognize businesses for achieving milestone workplace vaccination rates and provide incentives for employees of companies to encourage more Kentuckians to get the vaccine.