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出处：英文巴士 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/x0dAUX-TVDpLJUZY-xOSfA
A Shot in the Dark
How far should firms go to get their staff vaccinated?

The pandemic is throwing up a new set of ethical issues for businesses. The premise of “stakeholder capitalism” is not just that firms should consider the interests of employees and customers, as well as shareholders. It is that, by doing so, everyone gains; shareholders will prosper if workers and customers are treated decently. But the pandemic may put different groups at odds. For example, customers may want companies to insist that all employees are vaccinated, while not wanting the same rule to apply to themselves.

段落大意：疫情为企业带来了一系列的道德问题。在利益为上的资本家眼里并非只有员工和顾客的利益，也有股东们的利益。而疫情让不同的群体产生了分歧，陷入了矛盾。

It might seem as if shareholders would want as many employees to return to work as possible, few potential customers to be excluded, and interactions in, say, shops and restaurants to be as free from restrictions as possible. But if a company gets a reputation for being an unsafe place to work, or for customers to visit, the effect on long-term returns could be significant. The perception of fairness is also essential. Woe betide the executive who jumps the queue, as in the case of Mark Machin, a Canadian pension-fund boss who travelled to the United Arab Emirates to get the jab. (He swiftly resigned.)

段落大意：尽管股东们也希望员工们尽可能返回工作岗位，但一个公司因不安全因素而臭名昭著的话更影响长远利益。此外，公平也显得尤为重要。加拿大老板Mark Machin就因偷偷前往阿联酋接种疫苗而辞职。

Companies are not just trading off safety and personal liberty. They risk discriminating against those who have yet to gain access to the vaccine or who, for religious or medical reasons, are unwilling or unable to be jabbed. And they do not have complete freedom of action. The legal situation will vary from country to country, but it seems likely that, in many jurisdictions, companies will be able to insist on a vaccine mandate only for new employees.

段落大意：公司不仅仅是在牺牲安全和人身自由。他们有可能歧视那些尚未获得疫苗的人，或那些由于宗教或医疗原因不愿或不能注射疫苗的人。他们没有行动的自由。法律因国家地域而异，有些地方，公司可能只能要求新员工接种疫苗。

The question of vaccination is particularly pressing in health care. One might hope that medical workers would appreciate the need for it. Yet some health-care personnel may feel that having had Covid-19, as many have, negates the obligation. Laura Boudreau of Columbia Business School in New York observes that, in this type of industry, “there is a duty for the employer to try to identify safe roles that the staff can play, and if not, to provide information to customers about whether there are unvaccinated staff in the role.” In other words, unvaccinated staff may end up being kept away from vulnerable patients.

段落大意：疫苗的接种在卫生保健行业尤为重要、紧迫。人们希望医疗工作者能意识到这一点，而有一些医疗工作者却不以为然。“雇主有责任确保有安全需要的工作岗位上的工作人员，否则，向客户提供信息，是否有未接种疫苗的员工在这个角色中。”

Rules in other industries often lack consistency. Early in the pandemic, cruise ships helped to spread the disease. The Saga cruise line, which targets elderly travellers, is now insisting that passengers produce proof of vaccination, but makes no such demand of the crew. That makes sense. The passengers will largely be drawn from the rich world, where the elderly have been first in the queue for jabs. The crew will be younger and often from poorer countries. In both cases, vaccines will have been harder to obtain. However, the industry is not taking a consistent approach. Swan Hellenic is insisting on vaccines for crew, not passengers. Victory Cruise Lines has made a jab mandatory for both groups.

段落大意：各行各业的规则不尽相同。在疫情初期，邮轮加重了疾病的传播。现在，以高龄游客为主的Sega邮轮公司要求乘客提供疫苗接种证明，却没有对船员提出如此要求。这是综合了乘客和船员的出身进行的考量。Swan Hellenic邮轮公司则需要船员提供疫苗接种证明，对乘客没有要求。Victory则要求两者均提供相关证明。

No vaccine is 100% effective. It is not yet clear whether people who have been vaccinated can still transmit the disease to others. So where staff come into contact with customers, companies may insist on social distancing or mask-wearing until case levels drop substantially. Even then, employees may catch the virus from each other.

段落大意：疫苗并非是百分百有效的。目前尚未清楚接种过疫苗的人还能否将疾病传染给他人。因此，当员工与客户接触时，公司可能要求保持社交距离或戴口罩，直至疫情平稳。即便如此，员工之间也可能相互传播病毒。

Later, companies will have to consider what they should do when vaccines become more widely available. Some staff may have been unable to get a vaccine, because they have a medical condition (such as pregnancy) that excludes them. Do companies have a duty of care to protect such employees from colleagues who have refused to take the jab on principle?

段落大意：之后，公司企业将不得不思考，当疫苗被更广泛应用时该怎么办？一些因身体状况（诸如怀孕等）不能接种疫苗的员工又将怎么处理。公司有义务保护他们免受其他同事的排挤吗？

In the case of most companies, Ms. Boudreau says, it is very much in their interest “to reduce barriers for eligible staff to get vaccines, to have a dialogue with their staff to understand if and why they may be hesitant to get vaccinated, and to provide information and resources that may help those who are reluctant”. But that is probably as far as they can go.

Boudreau女士说，就大多数公司而言，“减少合适的员工获得疫苗的阻碍，与员工进行对话，了解他们是否愿意接种以及为什么不愿接种疫苗，并为那些不愿意接种疫苗的人提供信息和帮助，”是符合他们的利益的，也可能是他们能做到的。

There may be another phase of the pandemic with new variants resistant to current vaccines. The type of jab people have received then becomes more significant. In short, managers will face a series of trade-offs. Their best option may be to accept the uncertainties, remain flexible, ensure the best possible hygiene standards for their staff – and hope that acquired immunity, vaccines and therapies make Covid-19 no more life-threatening than seasonal flu.

新变种的病毒可能会对现有疫苗产生抗药性。人们接种的疫苗类型变得更加重要。简而言之，管理者们将面临一系列的取舍。他们最好的选择可能是接受不确定性，保持灵活性，确保员工达到最佳卫生标准，并祈祷在获得性免疫力、疫苗和各种疗法的帮助下新冠病毒不会比季节性流感更具威胁。