TWIN FALLS — It has taken months of planning but Chobani finally started the vaccination process of its employees on Thursday. The makeshift clinic started at 2:00 pm and ended at 8:00 pm, and workers came and went to receive their free shot.
“It’s been amazingly smooth. I mean we’re doing six employees every 15 minutes, and they show up," said Brandon Dansie, Senior Director of the People Team for Chobani. "We haven’t had to remind people. It’s been smooth.”
The process was made to be very simple. Workers would check-in, register, fill out some paperwork, then get their shot. They would then have to wait for 15 minutes after receiving their vaccine to ensure there were no severe adverse side effects and then go back to work.
Sarah Wang was one of the many employees who jumped at the chance to receive a vaccine.
“I trust vaccines most of the time, so it’s not a case of being worried about what the vaccine is going to, and so I was pretty much on board right away.”
Sarah also took notice of how easy and convenient Chobani made the entire process.
“This is fantastic. I think that giving us the opportunity to be able to get it really easy for us and not have to pay for it so that we can get things rolling right? We want to get things rolling for that herd immunity.”
As the Chobani staff continues to get vaccinated, Sarah says that this will not only benefit her but also her coworkers.
“I know that there are some people that have had a lot of anxiety about the idea of getting COVID for various reasons, various health risks. This is going to help them feel more comfortable and be more secure and feel like their lives are getting back to normal.”
Chobani is just as excited about having the opportunity to help their employees.
“They’ve been with us throughout this whole time. They’ve come to work each day and to be able to give the convenience of saying hey come off, come away from your workstation, get it and go back. It feels great,” said Dansie.
The next batch of vaccinations will be on April 1 from 2:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m. and the second round of doses will begin on April 22.
