As Americans try to decide whether they'll get vaccinated for covid-19 when the time comes, hospitals say they're facing a surprise obstacle: medical staff who say they're not interested right now.
So leaders who represent groups that might be next in line are trying to figure out how to make sure that doesn't happen to them. And Dollar General has come up with a strategy for its workforce: paying employees to get the vaccine.
"Dollar General says it will support employees who want to receive the covid-19 vaccine by paying them to get it. In a press release on Wednesday, the company said it will provide front-line hourly team members four hours of regular pay after they receive a completed covid-19 vaccination. Salaried team members will also receive additional store labor hours to accommodate their time away from the store," CBS News reports.
Eliminating the worry of having to choose between getting the shot and missing work is a solid way to encourage more folks to roll up their sleeves. After all, medical personnel in hospitals had the vaccine brought to their workplace. But nobody is bringing covid-19 vaccines to Dollar General stores.
Those employees are going to require a visit to the pharmacy or hospital to get their vaccines. Four hours should be plenty of time for them to accomplish that.
In the coming days and weeks, it wouldn't surprise us if other corporations announce they'll be paying employees to encourage them to get the vaccine, too. Grocery store employees are face-to-face with people that might have the virus every day. And with a sizable portion of society choosing to forego a mask because of selfish reasons, those workers need all the protection they can get.
Fortunately the two vaccines being distributed now are around 95 percent effective.
Who knows what else we'll see to tempt employees to get vaccinated in the future.
Whatever it takes. Roll up those sleeves so we can beat this, once and for all.