(Reuters) - Southwest Airlines Co said on Thursday it would vaccinate its employees against COVID-19 for free once a vaccine has been made widely available in the United States. The airline said its employees were strongly encouraged to get vaccinated against COVID-19. “We have teams working to identify third parties who can provide vaccines to our employees as soon as they are able to do so – likely during later phases in the vaccine roll-out plan,” the U.S. carrier said in a statement. The vaccines are paid for by the federal government and the administrative fees will be covered for Southwest employees under its health plans, the company said.