The question often asked of business leaders is “what keeps you up at night?” One of the answers to that question was made obvious last year and continues to be on the list. COVID. Through management oversight, diligence, and some luck, we’ve been able to weather the pandemic storm, so far. As Dr. Fauci is fond of reminding us “don’t spike the ball on the 5 yard line”. With the focus now on moving forward with the broader availability of vaccines, the question now is whether we should consider mandating vaccines.    

Many schools and universities have already made the decision to require vaccination. I wouldn’t suggest that we set company policy by what comes out of the Vatican, but the Pope was recently quoted as saying it was our moral obligation to be vaccinated. While the average age of an employee at Biomere falls within the range of what the CDC might consider to be at lower risk of becoming seriously ill, we recently have taken the step to incentivize all employees to get their shots by offering a $50 gift card to everyone receiving their first dose by July 4th (some symbolism in the date). We will cross the bridge over mandating the vaccine once we gather further research and deliberate with some outside consultation on what is in the best interests of our employees, their families, our clients, animals, and the business. Just one more thing to consider when going through the list of items in the middle of the night.