WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday plans to announce a tax credit to reimburse small businesses that give workers paid time off to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as he touts reaching his goal of administering 200 million shots in his first 100 days.
The tax credit, which will be funded by the Covid relief bill passed last month, will be available to businesses with fewer than 500 employees, allowing up to $511 a day for each employee. Biden will call on all companies to offer paid time off, regardless of size, and offer other incentives, like gift cards or bonuses, to encourage employees to get vaccinated.
As the U.S. reached Biden’s goal of administering 200 million shots this week, vaccine supply is starting to outstrip demand in some areas. Even without the supply of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is undergoing a safety review, the U.S. has been shipping out more doses than are being used in recent weeks, a senior administration official told reporters. The push for paid time off aims to try to get more working adults vaccinated and overcome some of that hesitancy.
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“Even small incentives move the needle,” the official said. “Does it move the needle because they prevent people from losing pay? I think so. Do they move the needle because they also send a message that your peers and people in your local community think it’s important to get vaccinated? I think so as well.”
While some people are resistant to getting the vaccine because of safety concerns, others feel less urgency about getting vaccinated because they are younger and need a simpler process of engagement, with fewer obstacles and some encouragement, the official said.
“I think what you’ll see is the vaccines coming to people as opposed to making people come to vaccines, and in every kind of creative way,” the official said.
In his remarks, Biden is also expected to tout the administration reaching its goal of administering 200 million shots in his first 100 days in office. That milestone, which Biden doubled in March when it became clear that vaccinations were on pace to meet the goal, translates into about half of U.S. adults having received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while about a third are fully vaccinated.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
