Baltimore Offers Employees $1,000 Incentive Pay To Get Vaccinated

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BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore City employees connected the obstruction astir the COVID-19 vaccine present person different reason–or 1,000 reasons, to beryllium exact–to get the shot.

In hopes of convincing unvaccinated employees to alteration their minds and get the vaccine, metropolis officials connected Tuesday announced that they’ll springiness one-time payments of $1,000 to afloat vaccinated employees.

“This inducement is astir doing everything successful our powerfulness to support our employees and our residents. We are inactive successful a pandemic. People are inactive losing their lives and getting earnestly sick due to the fact that they are not vaccinated,” Mayor Brandon Scott said.

All afloat vaccinated metropolis employees are eligible to person the inducement pay, the metropolis said. Those who get afloat vaccinated by Jan. 14, 2022, volition besides qualify.

The fiscal inducement represents the latest effort by the metropolis to get its workforce vaccinated against COVID-19. In October, the metropolis imposed a vaccine mandate, which requires those who aren’t afloat vaccinated to acquisition play testing.

City Administrator Christopher Shorter said officials anticipation the inducement payments, combined with the vaccine mandate, volition motivate employees to get the shot.

“We stay focused connected prioritizing the information of our workforce and the communities they service truthful that we tin proceed to supply businesslike and effectual services passim this pandemic,” Shorter said successful part.

The payments volition beryllium paid for with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

As of Tuesday, astir three-quarters (73.7%) of the city’s workforce is vaccinated, according to metropolis estimates. So far, 9,238 employees are afloat vaccinated, though 3,303 person yet to disclose their vaccination status.

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Under the vaccine mandate unvaccinated workers who don’t taxable to play investigating could look disciplinary enactment including perchance being fired.