Whirlpool Amana administers almost 1,200 COVID-19 vaccines

AMANA - Whirlpool Corp. is administering vaccines to 1,170 of its employees this week.

The company, which employs about 3,000 at its Amana facility, received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines Monday and plans to finish the first wave of vaccinations Thursday.

More workers requested the vaccine than there are doses available, said R.J. Corning, Whirlpool's senior director of human resources.

Corning said he expects 90 percent of the available vaccines to be administered by the end of the day Wednesday.

It's probably the first mass vaccination site for Whirlpool, Corning said, which employs about 77,000 people globally.

'For something this size and scale, it's the first for us,” Corning told The Gazette. 'We stand ready to be able to replicate this process across all our other facilities.”

The Benton Harbor, Mich.-based manufacturer developed vaccination plans in December and has been having 'regular conversations” with state and local officials about receiving more vaccines for employees.

Iowa's Phase 1B of its vaccine rollout includes manufacturing workers who work in settings where social distancing is not possible.

Employees walk into a separate entrance to the 2.1-million-square-foot Amana facility and follow yellow arrows on the floor for a process that Corning said takes 22 minutes on average.

The company has been using a Whirlpool refrigerator to hold the vaccines, which must be stored in ultra-cold conditions. Walgreens staff is administering the vaccines.

'We're really proud to say that we're using our product as well,” Corning said.

Some employees have been taking breaks mid-shift to receive the vaccine. Others have come in on their off days to be vaccinated. Walgreens' staff has been at Whirlpool from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. to accommodate workers on different shifts.

Whirlpool is open to vaccinating more than just its employees at the Amana site, Corning said.

'We've talked to (health officials) about being able to extend that to spouses and then supporting the community efforts,” Corning said.

'We do stand at the ready for that. ...

Our folks don't just live here. They go back to their homes. They go back to their families, and they're in the broader community.

'And as an employer in this area for a long time, we value the contributions of this community as well.”

Many large corporations have been pushing to vaccinate their employees locally and across the country. In some cases, corporations have received permission from public health officials to separately vaccinate its workers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Comments: (319) 398-8394; john.steppe@thegazette.com