"Vaccination is important for the whole country"
The head of the medical aid centre of Beko factory, Lyudmila Cheremovskaya has been vaccinated long ago and recommends everyone to do the same. The company has taken reliable COVID preventive measures, now it's up to the employees.
photo: Evgeny Likhatsky
- Lyudmila Valentinovna, tell us about how the company is going through the third wave of the pandemic.
- In general, there is an increase in the incidence rate in the Vladimir region but I cannot say that we have felt this wave. People get sick as usual, there is no increase in absenteeism due to illness. This is due to the fact that the measures that have been adopted before and have not yet been cancelled are still applied.
- What measures have been taken to reduce morbidity and what are the valid recommendations in the offices and at production sites?
We introduced the obligatory wearing of masks, the distribution of antiseptic agents, keeping a distance, installed protective screens wherever possible, separated the streams of people so that employees did not come into contact with each other anywhere - neither in the departments, nor at the checkpoint, in the cafeteria, in the restrooms. Disposable tableware is used in the cafeteria, 1–2 persons sit at a table; office employees work in clusters, one day one cluster, the other day - another cluster. Buses delivering employees to the enterprise make several trips to prevent crowds of people in the vehicle.
The restrooms have doors with touch sensors; in general, all buttons that could be replaced with sensors have been replaced. Ventilation requirements for rooms are also strictly observed. These measures were introduced in the beginning of 2020. And now they are strictly implemented.
In addition, the temperature of each incoming person is measured at the checkpoint. If it is high the person is sent to the quarantine room for the examination by a paramedic. He decides that the employee who is not feeling well should be taken home by the company's vehicle and calls a doctor from the hospital closest to his or her house.
And if an employee suddenly feels bad on the site, then taking care of him in the same way is the responsibility of the site foreman. A person with an elevated temperature, even up to 37.1, can not be present at the factory.
- Do you have any statistics on morbidity at Beko enterprises?
- Of course, we keep statistics. Exactly based on it, I can state that we do not have an increase in the incidence rate. Moreover, the pandemic has not affected the average number of sickness cases per month compared to other years. Such a positive result is possible only thanks to timely measures taken. They used to look at us with amazement for this but now all these measures are reality for everyone.
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• Get well if you are sick. It doesn't matter if we are talking about acute exacerbation of a chronic disease, injury or a cold - in this condition, the vaccine cannot be given.
• Take care of yourself. Shortly before vaccination, cancel your trips to public places, to crowded events so as not to catch an infection and not get vaccinated during the incubation period of the disease.
• In the period between the first and the second vaccinations, antibodies are generated: they begin to be generated in the third week after the first vaccination, their maximum amount is formed 2-3 weeks after the second vaccination. During all this time, it is better to avoid contacts, wear a mask in stores and in transport.
• Immediately after vaccination, you should not go to saunas and play sports.
• Alcohol suppresses generation of antibodies. If you get vaccinated and drink an alcoholic beverage then the level of generated antibodies will be insufficient.
• If you are allergic or at least have minimal reactions to food products (for example, rash appears from strawberries), you should not eat allergenic food on the eve of vaccination.
- How important is vaccination for the employees of the company and why?
There is no sufficiently large percentage of people with antibodies, and against this background, the virus produces a larger number of mutations. Each mutation makes it more dangerous.
Some mutations fade away but some are much more infectious and dangerous.
In the nearest future, I think, a kind of universal vaccine will be developed, which the child will be vaccinated with in the maternity hospital - just as now children are vaccinated against tuberculosis to be protected for many years.
So vaccination is needed for every person if he wants to live and is concerned about his future.
Collective immunity is very important now. When a large share of people in a team is protected from coronavirus, the team as a whole will not get sick, and the production process will not fail. And to develop collective immunity you need to be vaccinated.
- Do people need to be vaccinated if they have already been ill?
- Now there is information what is needed: the antibodies that the vaccine gives are more aggressive, more suppressing the infection than those antibodies that people have acquired on their own in the course of the disease. People with the low level of antibodies who got sick last year, of course, need to be vaccinated.
- Where can the employees of the company be vaccinated today?
But in general, our employees do not need to go anywhere, to stand in lines risking to catch an infection or to waste their time. They can be vaccinated on the premises of the company.
To do this, we gather groups and invite vaccination stations from the Kirzhach Regional Hospital to come to us. In May, 46 people were vaccinated and in June the same people received the second vaccine. Now we are gathering another large group to invite specialists from the hospital again.
It is also allowed to vaccinate family members of the employees. This can be arranged at the medical aid centre when making an appointment for a vaccination. It is a benefit for the company if the employee is protected from the virus not only at work but also at home.
The company does everything for the safety and comfort of its employees, makes sure that they can receive the vaccine as comfortably as possible. You just need to sign up.
How the company supports and encourages the employees who want to get vaccinated:
Those who have already been vaccinated can bring a document confirming the fact of both vaccinations to the medical aid centre. This will be recorded there and nothing else needs to be done. The information will be transferred to the HR department and 1000 roubles will be credited to the employee's salary account.
We also decided that it would be effective to hold a lottery amongst the vaccinated employees.
With the help of a special system, the lottery winners will be randomly determined, and they will receive various prizes - large and small household appliances. The lottery will be held repeatedly, at least twice, with three winners in each round.
The start of the lottery has already been announced. The employees can see information about it on the video screen installed on the ground floor at the entrance to the production facility.
Rarely but it happens that a person does not feel very well on the following day after vaccination. We have not had such cases. Before vaccination, everyone in any case is questioned by the doctor, and if there are any suspicions, then the procedure is postponed. But, of course, if an employee feels unwell after the vaccination, no one will force him to go to work. By agreement with a foreman, a direct line manager you can take one day of vacation and stay at home.
