Employees have received COVID-19 jabs at their workplace in the first initiative of its kind in Mansfield.
A total of 21 jabs were given in just 45 minutes when the vaccination bus visited Glenair on Oakham Business Park, Mansfield, on Tuesday.
The bus will return to Glenair’s car park on Lower Oakham Way on Friday 23 July from 10am to 12noon.
Vaccinations are aimed at those working at Glenair and other firms on the business park who haven’t had their first jab or had their first dose more than 56 days ago and need their second dose.
Mansfield District Council worked with the local NHS and Nottinghamshire County Council to arrange the visit of the bus, which is particularly targeting those aged under 40.
Lee Strawther, Safety, Health and Environmental Manager at Glenair, said: “As a business we want to do all we can to protect our employees and their families. We’ve been encouraging staff to do weekly rapid testing so having the vaccination bus here is the next step. We’re pleased that so many employees have taken up the offer of getting their vaccine.
“The larger the population of fully vaccinated people, the greater the chance we have of breaking the transmission of infection and controlling this disease. We are all so eager to return to our normal lives, where we can roam around freely without the fear of infection - getting vaccinated is the best gift you can give to yourselves to protect you, your friends and family.”
The firm is so keen to increase the ratio of vaccinated workers that it gives those who have had both jabs a shopping voucher as a small gesture of thanks.
Glenair, which is a growing interconnect business, has had many processes in place to keep staff and their families safe throughout the pandemic.
All employees are given paid-time off to attend a rapid test site at least once a week. Many employees walk to the testing centre at the nearby Mansfield Town Football Club to take a break, get fresh air and exercise. They are also encouraged to use rapid tests at home.
Lee said: “Rapid tests have identified some cases where there were no symptoms. This means they could immediately isolate and slow down the spread of infection.
“The physical and mental impact of having Covid can be long term. It has other widespread effects such as the impact on families and contacts who have to isolate. For businesses, it can result in the closure of a whole department, which can cause a financial strain and a reduction in outputs meaning customers could be affected."
Cllr Stuart Richardson, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Growth, met Glenair staff at the vaccination bus on Tuesday.
He said: “We’re bringing the vaccine to the people. Glenair has been really proactive and promoted testing, personal responsibility and vaccination throughout the pandemic and it was great to see a queue at the bus.
“Even though national restrictions have been lifted, infection rates remain high and that is why we’re encouraging people to get the vaccine. We all need to be as responsible as we can.”
Glenair is one of Mansfield’s biggest employers with 650 staff in posts such as sales, application engineering, design engineering, production engineering and manufacturing.