According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), successfully preventing the spread of COVID-19 requires a large portion of our society to get vaccinated to fight the pandemic. America is moving closer to this milestone, but there is still a long way to go. According to the latest data published by the CDC, 44% of the population has received at least one vaccine dose and 32% are fully vaccinated.
On May 4, the White House announced measures to make vaccines more easily accessible to enable 70% of Americans to have their first shot, and 160 million Americans to be fully vaccinated, by Independence Day. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) includes funding for states to conduct activities to enhance, expand and improve nationwide COVID–19 vaccine distribution and administration. Additionally, ARP allows employers with fewer than 500 employees to claim a tax credit that reimburses the cost of providing paid sick and family leave to employees due to COVID-19, including leave taken by employees to receive or recover from COVID-19 vaccinations. Learn more here.
Vaccine education is also critical to this effort. NTCA recently released a public service message from GHP Trust Committee members and rural telecom leaders sharing their thoughts on why “it’s worth a shot” to get a COVID-19 vaccine. We encourage you to share this video message with your employees, former employees and board members as part of your workplace education on this important public health issue. The NTCA Benefits Coronavirus Resource Center also provides education about COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.
Read more articles from the May 2021 issue of Benefits Report.