President Biden is asking states and localities to offer unvaccinated residents $100 to get their COVID-19 shots — but it’s not clear how likely Gov. Charlie Baker and Acting Mayor Kim Janey are to be slipping you a C-note.
The cash reward for vaccination was one idea in Biden’s latest plan to boost lagging vaccination rates in many parts of the nation. Rolled out Thursday, the core of his new plan is a requirement for federal workers to disclose their vaccination status to their agencies.
Janey’s office didn’t sound too enthused on Thursday evening about tossing a Benjamin at the unvaxxed, saying, “Mayor Janey believes the best incentive for vaccination is protection from COVID-19, especially the new Delta variant.”
Baker’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Biden is pointing to anecdotal evidence that a $100 reward will get results. The White House says the Kroger grocery store chain tried it and saw vaccination rates jump to 75% from 50% among employees. New Mexico, Ohio and Colorado have also experimented with the idea.
Biden says states and localities can use money from his COVID relief law to pay for the incentive programs.
Biden also said he will require federal employees to wear masks, physically distance from others in the workplace and get tested regularly if they’re not willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The new rules place the federal government, the country’s largest employer, at the forefront of efforts to boost vaccination rates by applying pressure at offices and other job sites. Some private companies and local governments have already announced similar policies.
More than 1.4 million uniformed military personnel will not yet be affected, but Biden is directing the Pentagon to detail when it will add the coronavirus shots to the list of required vaccinations for members of the armed forces.
In Boston, Janey said her administration was “leaning toward” a mandate for city workers to have to get vaccines, though she didn’t announce such a move on Thursday. She said she’d work with the city’s union around a “potential mandate.”
The City Council earlier this week essentially did the same as what the feds are doing now, requiring either proof of vaccination or regular negative tests for staff.
Janey noted the “marked increase” in coronavirus cases in the area, driven by the Delta variant, saying that the past two weeks have seen 704 new cases in the city after 147 in the previous two weeks. Still, asked if she’s planning to bring back any rules, she noted that the positive test rate, 2.7%, is similar to what it was when the city opened back up.
Janey also said that the mobile vaccination sites will head out to bars an restaurants, where they’ll hope to administer a round a of shots to young Bostonians, who have lower vaccination rates.
“The vaccine is the best way to protect ourselves and our loved ones from COVID-19 in Boston,” Janey said.
Across the Bay State, cases, positive testing rates and hospitalizations continue to creep back up.
— Herald wire services contributed