Columbus City Council considering $100 “Vaccine Green” vaccine incentive

Courtesy of ABC 6
By Jarrod Clay
June 11, 2021

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Columbus City Council is considering a $100 “Vaccine Green” incentive for residents who get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Council will discuss and vote on the incentive during Monday night’s meeting.

The $100 incentive would be for Columbus residents who get vaccinated after Monday night. They would get $50 for the first dose and $50 for the second dose. Residents who get the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will receive the full amount.

The “Vaccine Green” program will be run through the Columbus Urban League and residents will need to register through the Columbus Urban League to receive their payment.

“The program is being run through the Columbus Urban League and we worked with them on an emergency financial assistance program last year to help low income workers who are diagnosed with COVID and struggled to be able to take the time off work miss that paycheck to isolate and quarantine, so we had an emergency financial relief program through the Urban League and they did a fantastic job as the front door of that program. We served about 1,000 workers in Columbus so they are going to be the front door of this program as well,” Columbus City Council President Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown said.

If the incentive program is approved Monday night, the site to register will go live at some point after.

“Unfortunately what we’re saying is that those who have regular access to the healthcare system, familiarity with the healthcare system, they live in the more affluent parts of our city, have higher vaccination rates as well,” Brown said. “And for low income workers, the challenges of choosing between a paycheck and potential time off from getting vaccinated is real. Not only because they would have to take that time off to get vaccinated but also their fear is around missing work due to short term side effects everybody reacts to the vaccine differently.”

Monday night’s meeting will come two days before Ohio’s fourth Vax-a-Million drawing. The Vax-a-Million lottery was created in an effort to get people across Ohio vaccinated.

As of Friday, the Ohio Department of Health reports 46.5% of Ohioans have started the vaccination process. More than 4.8 million Ohioans have completed their COVID-19 vaccinations.

In Franklin County, about 44% of residents have completed their vaccinations.

With vaccinations on the rise, Ohio reported just 347 new COVID-19 cases Friday.