IBEW and NECA Joint Letter on Importance of COVID-19 Vaccinations

IBEW and NECA Joint Letter on Importance of COVID-19 Vaccinations

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact communities all across America. As of today, more than 633,000 Americans have died since the start of the pandemic, with 38.4 million cases overall. This is a staggering loss, greater than the U.S. death totals in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq combined. We are in a war—one of the deadliest wars we have ever seen as an American people.

These numbers are not mere statistics; they represent families and loved ones across our country being torn apart by this deadly disease. We are talking about mothers, daughters, sisters, fathers, brothers, sons, and grandparents. There is a tool we can use to fight this ongoing pandemic, and win this war: The COVID-19 vaccines.

With the FDA approving the Pfizer-Biotech vaccine, we implore each and every person in the electrical construction industry to become vaccinated against COVID-19. This is about keeping our communities safe. Not only is it our best tool to fight against this pandemic, but because it is the best way to ensure families stay healthy and together: including your family.

Based on statistics from across the country, fully vaccinated people make up as little as 0.1 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations and as little as 0.2 percent of deaths. Currently, more than 170 million Americans—only 52.3 percent of the population—are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with 62 percent reporting at least one dose.

We can do better.

There was recently a story of a father in Las Vegas who died from the coronavirus. Shortly before he passed, he sent his fiancée a message: “I should have gotten the damn vaccine.” Unfortunately, there have been too many of these stories in recent weeks.

So please, let’s all work together, not as an industry but as a community. Think of your own family, your friends, your coworkers and their families—and urge them to receive this vaccination as well. This impacts absolutely everyone, and these vaccines are readily available to you.

Please, if you haven’t, go and take the shot. Let’s work together and do all we can to end this pandemic and win this war.

Lonnie R. Stephenson
International President, IBEW

Kenneth Cooper
International Secretary-Treasurer, IBEW

David Long
Chief Executive Officer, NECA

Larry Beltramo
President, NECA