DeKalb commission approves funds for county employee vaccine incentive

DeKalb commissioners approved Tuesday the funding that will allow the county to offer monetary incentives to employees who get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The commission unanimously supported the allocation of up to $1.9 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to cover the cost of offering $300 to any county employee who gets — or has already gotten — fully vaccinated.

The incentive is part of a larger initiative that will also offer $200 to employees who get a flu shot. That money will come from the county’s operating budget.

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The county government — which does not include the local school district — has about 6,000 employees. The total allotment of up to $3.2 million would be enough to pay all of them to get vaccinated against both viruses.

Employees will need to provide proof of vaccination by Jan. 31, 2022, officials have previously said.

“We want to aggressively encourage all of our employees to get not just the COVID-19 vaccination but the flu vaccination,” DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond said Tuesday.

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