Incentives for state employees
Ohio offering up to $1,000 for COVID shot
State employees could earn up to $1,000 for getting a COVID-19 shot because of a new “bonus” incentive Ohio officials announced this week.
State employees have been eligible for $100 for getting an initial shot since late July. Now, employees will be eligible for an additional $300 if 65% of an agency’s active employees where they work have received at least the first dose by Oct. 15. They’ll get another $600 if 85% of active employees have received one dose by Nov. 15.
Dewine spokesman Dan Tierney said “there’s room for improvement” for vaccinating the state’s workforce – more than 50,500 employees. He noted that a number of state workers interact with the public.
“Part of this is doing our part to keep our workforce safe and healthy and part of it is doing our part to encourage our employees to protect themselves and their community,” Tierney said.
Employees will have to submit a form attesting they have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine to be eligible. About 15,000 employees have submitted requests for the initial incentive, said Ohio Department of Administrative Services spokeswoman Melissa Vince.
The incentive is paid from agencies’ existing budgets, Vince said, and the incentive amounts were determined “after consideration of state and national data regarding vaccination rates.”
The current percentages of vaccinated state employees by agency were not immediately available Tuesday.
Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine instituted the state employee incentive one month after the statewide “Vax-a-million” drawing ended. That incentive resulted in a brief boost in vaccinations for about two weeks, which may not have been caused by the lottery.
As of Monday, about 65% of adults statewide had received an initial COVID-19 vaccine dose, but just under 50% of the state is fully vaccinated.
Jackie Borchardt is the bureau chief for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.