GAINESVILLE – Hall County leaders are getting very serious in their effort to encourage county employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19…$500 serious.
“We want to see as many of our employees as possible vaccinated against COVID-19,” Hall County Board of Commissioners Chairman Richard Higgins said in a media release late Thursday afternoon. “Our hope is that this incentive helps improve the health and safety of our workforce overall as we continue to provide essential services to the public.”
Following Thursday evening’s county commission meeting Higgins reiterated his position. “We’re trying our best to get as many employees as we can, vaccinated.”
And the county is not overlooking those employees who have already been vaccinated. In the county’s media release Hall County Public Information Officer Katie Crumley wrote:
“Hall County employees who have received both shots in the series or one shot for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Sept. 30, 2021 and are able to provide the associated documentation to Hall County Human Resources by specified dates will receive a one-time $500 cash incentive. Employees who received their vaccine prior to the launch of the incentive program will also be eligible for the $500 cash incentive.”
“We don’t have any numbers,” Higgins responded when asked how many county employees have already been vaccinated. “But we can ask people to do something and maybe incentivize them…but that’s all we can do.”
Hall County Administrator Jock Connell said county employees considering the vaccine should not be worried if receiving the vaccine causes them to miss work should their reaction be debilitating. “People have had reactions up until now and we’ve worked with them.”
Crumley said an email was sent to all Hall County employees listing locations where the vaccines are immediately available.
“They can go anywhere that’s giving the vaccine,” Connell added. “If only a small amount of people avail themselves to this…(at least) it’s one more tool that is there.”
Funding for Hall County’s incentive program is provided by the American Rescue Plan of 2021.
More information regarding vaccine information can be found on the Centers for Disease Control website.
