With the COVID-19 vaccine now widely available nationwide, many defense contracting executives say they see the vaccine as a path forward, allowing them to ramp up their work and move past this challenging time.
But while many companies are facilitating employee access to vaccines, they are stopping short of requiring employees receive them.
At Lockheed Martin, nearly half of all employees have had at least one dose of the vaccine.
The company has held more than 50 vaccination events at its facilities and has produced videos showing executives getting vaccinated.
"We didn't mandate anything, but we came out very strongly to say this is something we think's appropriate, it's good for the company, good for the nation," Greg Karol, Lockheed's chief human resources officer, told Inside Defense.
Employees can voluntarily notify the company they've been vaccinated.
Raytheon Technologies employees have access to an employee wellness program, through which they can earn rewards by exercising, quitting smoking and other activities. Those activities now include getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
"Our hope is to get at least 80% of our people vaccinated," Greg Hayes, Raytheon's chief executive, said last month. If employees don't want to be vaccinated for religious or medical reasons, "we're going to have to respect that, but we're also going to have to make sure we can keep the rest of the employee base safe."
A Raytheon spokesman said the company does not know exactly what percentage have been vaccinated at this point.
A Leidos spokesman said the contractor too is not requiring vaccination.
"That said, we are highly encouraging employees to get their vaccinations," he added. "In accordance with various state and municipal guidelines . . . we are providing paid time off for employees to get vaccinated and/or to deal with symptoms based on reactions to being vaccinated."
More than one-third of Huntington Ingalls Industries' workforce has now been vaccinated, according to a company spokeswoman.
"We believe getting vaccinated is our workforce's first opportunity to go on the offensive with this virus," she said. "We encourage our employees to get the vaccine not just to protect themselves and their families, but to also protect the team they work with every day."
HII is offering a range of incentives, from on-site vaccine clinics, transportation to vaccine sites and paid time for employees to get vaccinated, she said.
General Dynamics and L3Harris Technologies have also offered vaccine clinics. L3Harris said it has held clinics in Florida, Texas and Virginia and vaccinated about 2,500 employees through those events.
A Boeing spokesman told Inside Defense the company has been urging its employees to "take the earliest opportunity to get vaccinated."
Employees are receiving up to two hours of paid time per vaccine and flex work support, he said.
A spokesman for BAE Systems said the contractor is "encouraging our employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine at their earliest opportunity" and offering paid time off for appointments.
Stu Shea, the chief executive of Peraton, told Inside Defense his company is taking a hands-off approach.
"If you had your employer tell you that you had to do something medically, you might not want to do it medically," he said. "I don't know that it's our place to mandate certain things that frankly are still a little bit new and a little bit unproven."
He said Peraton is focusing on limiting office facilities only to employees who actually need to be there. The company is also looking to safety precautions, such as temperature-taking.
"We're going to start more with those things than we are the strict mandate," Shea said.