Companies give employees free time and extra money to be vaccinated for Covid-19.
The online grocery delivery service Instacart announced a “Covid-19 vaccine support grant” on Thursday, offering $ 25 for shift leads, in-store shopping and full-service buyers who will be vaccinated from February 1st.
The idea is to ensure that “Instacart buyers do not have to choose between earning income as an essential service provider or being vaccinated,” Apoorva Mehta, founder and CEO of Instacart, said in a release.
Mehta also advocates that Instacart’s independent contractors in the store gain access to the vaccine. (Although it is recommended that workers in grocery stores be included in phase 1b of vaccination, Instacart buyers are not recognized by government as essential workers.)
Some people who are eligible for the vaccine have even experienced and waited with regular appointments in many countries.
The popular grocery store chain Trader Joe’s reimburses employees two hours paid per dose of the vaccine received, and will take steps to ensure that ‘crew members’ (employees responsible for work such as cash registers, receiving and downloading deliveries, stock shelves , building exhibitions, cleaning the floor, etc.) have time to plan an appointment, Kenya Friend-Daniel, spokesperson for Joe Trader, told CNBC Make It.
Dollar General also announced on Wednesday that he will make a one-time payment of four hours to the top hourly team members after they are vaccinated. According to a statement, a salary service will also receive accommodation to compensate for the time spent on the vaccine.
From a legal perspective, employers may order employees to be vaccinated before returning to work, as long as they provide reasonable accommodation for those with medical problems or religious exemptions.
Although these retailers do not require employees to be vaccinated, programs like these can encourage people to receive the vaccine so that they feel safer at work. According to Pew data released in December, 60% of Americans say they will definitely or probably get a vaccine for the coronavirus.
Robert Litan, an economist with the Brookings Institution, told NPR that it would encourage people to get the vaccine if they gave cash payments for the federal government vaccination. (This, of course, would theoretically cost the government hundreds of billions of dollars to fund.)
Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, said that 80% of the population needed to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
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