“Having unvaccinated employees is a hazard to the tribe and the public,” Barrett wrote.

President Joe Biden announced similar vaccination and testing requirements in September for businesses with 100 or more employees.īut Barrett said in his letter that he decided to adopt a stricter vaccination mandate “after much consideration and reading a lot of negative emails from employees about people’s ‘rights.’”

Tribal leaders initially planned to allow those employees to undergo weekly tests for COVID-19. That adds up to 587 workers across the tribe's operations, Barrett said in his letter to employees. Eight months later, nearly 600 tribal employees remain unvaccinated.īarrett said in a statement that it was his responsibility 'to make decisions for the good of the tribe, our employees, our guests and our community.' He said about one-quarter of the tribe's employees are not vaccinated. Citizen Potawatomi Nation's Dayna Grandstaff administers a COVID-19 vaccine in March during a vaccine event hosted by the tribe.

Potawatomi casino coronavirus