Workplace vaccine pilot hailed a success

Hugo Guedes (right) and Rafael Oliveira (left) are two of over 500 Moy Park employees grateful to have received their Covid-19 vaccination at work, and are looking forward to receiving their second dose this month

The initiative was established at Moy Park’s Northern Ireland sites as a pilot exercise, with the support of the Department of Health, to explore the value of setting up a Covid-19 vaccination programme in a large-scale workplace setting.

The pilot programme complements the other Covid-19 safety measures which are in place at Moy Park including Lateral Flow Testing for staff and visitors to its sites, as well as thermal temperature scanning, enhanced cleaning and hygiene regimes, Perspex screens, additional PPE and social distancing measures.

Declan Cunningham, head of sustainability and risk at Moy Park said: “It is great to see people receiving their vaccine here at work, and feedback has been really positive from the 500+ colleagues who have benefited from the scheme. Vaccinations are so important for our lives to get back to normal and we at Moy Park are delighted to be able to offer this service to our team.

“We are proud to be playing our part in the vaccine roll out, and I would like to thank the Department of Health and the Southern and Northern Health and Social Care vaccine teams for their support. Their professionalism has ensured our staff had every confidence in receiving the vaccine in a work environment.”

Health Minister Robin Swann said: “This is a welcome and important initiative by Moy Park. I’m very encouraged to see a number of companies working closely with our Health and Social Care Trusts and the Public Health Agency to help make vaccination quick, easy and convenient for their staff. By taking the opportunity to get fully vaccinated, with both doses of the vaccine, these companies and their employees are really helping to support our health service.”