President Joe Biden is asking employers to give workers paid time off so they can go get vaccinated.
“One concern I’ve heard from so many Americans is that they can’t afford to take the time off to get vaccinated or lose a day’s work because they are feeling slightly under the weather after their shot,” Biden said while delivering remarks on Wednesday.
He added, “I’m calling on every employer, large and small, in every state to give employees the time off they need, with pay, to get vaccinated, and any time they need, with pay, to recover if they’re feeling under the weather after the shot. No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they chose to fulfill their patriotic duty of getting vaccinated.”
Watch his remarks below:
Biden calls on employers in every state to give workers paid time off to get the COVID-19 vaccine and recover from any potential side effects
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 21, 2021
"No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they chose to fulfill their patriotic duty to vaccinated" pic.twitter.com/z9rpGTXE9R
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki noted during her press briefing on Wednesday the administration has “actually seen a decrease in hesitancy and increase in confidence among many communities.”
She said the goal of the announcement was to “address one of those barriers to access, which is people, not through a political prism, but people, many people who have not yet been vaccinated are concerned. They can’t take a day off of work. They don’t have additional paid leave. And so we’re trying to address that barrier, reduce that barrier as a one that is preventing access.”
The president also sought to reassure small businesses the policy would not cost them too much.
“To make sure this policy comes at no cost to small or medium-sized businesses with fewer than 500 employees, the IRS has posted instructions for how employers can get reimbursed for the cost of providing paid leave for employees to get vaccinated and recover from the side effects if they have any,” Biden said.
The tax credit would provide up to $511 per day, per employee for businesses with fewer than 500 workers so they can get vaccinated without suffering a penalty. It is paid for through the $1.9 trillion relief package passed in March.
As of Monday morning, the United States has administered 211,581,309 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.