Photo by Deb Gau Signs posted in the windows at the Marshall Hy-Vee this week advertised COVID-19 vaccinations. New federal rules say employers with 100 or more employees will need to make sure their workers are vaccinated against COVID by Jan. 4. Hy-Vee is among the Marshall area businesses and public institutions that would be affected by the new requirements.

MARSHALL — New rules from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released this week mean many area employees will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or face regular testing. However, Marshall employers including businesses and public institutions said Friday they’re still working out what they will need to do in order to comply.

“We haven’t got a lot of information yet,” said Matt Parkhurst, store director at the Marshall Hy-Vee.

The company would be sharing more information with employees once plans on implementing the new rules were finalized, he said.

Other Marshall employers were in a similar situation Friday.

“It will definitely impact us,” said Shelly Gniffke, Human Resources manager at Ralco.

However, she said the company will still need to review the new rules and make plans for how to comply.

A spokesperson for Schwan’s Company said the company is also evaluating all the details of the new requirements.

“We intend to be in full compliance by their deadline,” said Chuck Blomberg, communication manager at Schwan’s Shared Services.

Since COVID vaccines became available, Schwan’s has communicated the value of getting vaccinated to employees, and provided information on where they could go to get vaccines, Blomberg said.

On Thursday, OSHA released new COVID vaccine requirements affecting employers with 100 or more employees. Employers must ensure that their workers are vaccinated by a Jan. 4 deadline, or that they are tested for COVID-19 at least once a week. Under the OSHA rule, employers must provide paid time for employees to get vaccinated, and sick leave for employees to recover from any side effects of the vaccine.

Employees who are not fully vaccinated must wear face coverings indoors or in vehicles, and be tested for COVID-19 at least weekly. However, OSHA said employers are not required to pay for testing costs, unless they’re required to under other regulations or collective bargaining agreements.

The rules are a little different for health care and long-term care facilities that receive federal funding from Medicare or Medicaid. At those facilities, employees still have a Jan. 4 deadline for COVID vaccination, but they don’t have the option of being tested weekly instead.

Stacy Neubeck, communications partner at Avera Marshall, said the Avera Health system is reviewing the new rules to see how to put them into practice. However, Avera already announced in September that it would be requiring employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19 or comply with regular testing. Avera’s original deadline was for employees to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 1.

Some representatives of large employers in Marshall said Friday that their companies are still reviewing OSHA’S mandate. Parkhurst said Hy-Vee needs to consider how to implement the vaccination rule for a total 91,000 employees across eight states.

The new OSHA vaccination rules would likely apply to employees of Lyon County and the city of Marshall, said Lyon County Administrator Loren Stomberg and Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson.

Hanson said so far, the city of Marshall has been following vaccination guidance issued by the League of Minnesota Cities. When more about the federal rules has been finalized, the city will assess how best to comply, she said.

Stomberg said Lyon County staff are reviewing the rules and working on a policy that will go before the County Board, possibly as early as Nov. 16.

Marshall Public Schools Superintendent Jeremy Williams said Friday that the district will be affected by the new rules, but they are also still in the process of reviewing the information from OSHA.

“Next week we’ll work out the details,” Williams said.

Williams said MPS knew since August that rules on COVID vaccination requirements would be coming at some point, but not exactly when or what they would need to do.

The OSHA rules may have different impacts on local employers, depending on what kinds of vaccination rules are already in effect for them. For example, Southwest Minnesota State University employees already have similar guidelines to OSHA’s.

“The new federal guidelines should have minimal impact on SMSU, as we already have a state mandate in effect,” said Deb Kerkaert, vice president for finance and administration at SMSU. “Employees must provide proof of vaccination or submit to weekly testing. We held several vaccination clinics earlier this fall and currently have a masking requirement on campus.”

Some large employers in southwest Minnesota have already encouraged their employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19, before OSHA issued its rule.

“I know we’ve gone out to several employers to administer vaccines already,” said pharmacist Sandy Murphy, of GuidePoint Pharmacy in Marshall.

Carol Biren, public health director at Southwest Health and Human Services, said the agency does plan to offer COVID vaccine if there are gaps in its service area for getting the vaccine.

“We’ve had calls, so there is interest in getting more people vaccinated,” she said.