Biden Hopes Tax Credit Will Encourage Vaccine-Hesitant Americans To Get One Anyway

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday plans to encourage Americans who do not want a COVID-19 vaccine to get one anyway by reminding them that small businesses can take a full tax credit against paid time off they provide for the vaccination and, if need be, recovery afterward.

Under the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which Congress passed and Biden signed into law last month, businesses with 500 employees or fewer can claim a tax credit for as much as $511 a day for paid time off they provide to their employees, up to 10 days for vaccinations and recovery time per employee.

A senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said a quarter of Americans who say they will not get vaccinated may consider doing so if they know they would not lose money.

“No one should have to lose pay to be vaccinated,” the official said, adding that Biden will call on small businesses — who in total account for nearly half of all private sector employment — to encourage their workers to get the vaccine.

Most large employers already have paid time off for sick days.

A Quinnipiac University survey last week found that 27% of Americans — and nearly half of Republicans — do not want to get a vaccine against the virus that has killed 568,532 in this country and 3 million around the world; 68% said they had already been vaccinated or intend to be.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 213 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have already been administered in the United States, with 132 million Americans age 18 and over, or 51%, having at least one dose, and 86 million, or 33%, being fully vaccinated.

Biden took office with the stated goal of delivering 100 million doses of vaccines in his first 100 days in office, and then increased that to 200 million doses when the early target was easily reached more than a month ago.