TENNESSEE (AP) – While COVID-19 vaccines continue in the United States, some companies offer financial incentives to encourage their workers to receive the shots.
Dollar General is one of the first large companies to announce an extra pay for workers who get vaccinated. The Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based retailer, which operates about 17,000 stores in 46 states, said Wednesday it will give employees the equivalent of four hours of pay if they receive the vaccine.
Dollar General said the extra pay is intended to offset the travel time, mileage and childcare expenses that employees will incur to get the vaccine.
“We don’t want our employees to have to choose between getting a vaccine or coming to work,” Dollar General said.
The retailer said it is encouraging workers to get the vaccines, but they do not require them. In its annual report last February, the company said it had 143,000 employees.
A vaccine advisory group at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control voted in late last month on recommendations for vaccine distribution. The committee said supermarket workers (which would include General Dollar employees) should be part of the second group to receive shots after health workers and residents of the residences.
Firefighters, police, teachers, correctional workers, postal employees and others are part of this second group, along with people aged 75 and over. There are about 50 million people in this group.
Vaccine distribution in Utah will be done at the county level, which means that each resident’s experience will be different depending on where they live. You can find more information here.
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