Macon-Bibb County to pay employees to get COVID vaccine. Here’s what they’ll earn

As Bibb County COVID-19 vaccination rates lag behind state averages, local elected officials and private companies are incentivizing and, in some cases, requiring employees to get shots.

The Macon-Bibb County commissioners approved payments of $500 for full-time employees and $250 for part-time employees who receive a COVID-19 vaccine during their Tuesday evening meeting, Liz Fabian of the Center for Collaborative Journalism reports.

“We are in an emergency,” Commissioner Elaine Lucas said. “We are fortunate that we do have this option because we could just keep begging and pleading with folks to do the right thing and it’s obvious that hasn’t worked.”

The payments, which will come out of the American Rescue Plan Act money provided by the federal government, could cost up to $800,000.

Atrium Health and Piedmont Healthcare — which recently completed a purchase of Coliseum’s two Macon hospitals — are requiring employees to get fully vaccinated.

By the numbers

The state health department released updated COVID-19 numbers Wednesday afternoon.

• New cases: 1,972

• New hospitalizations: 179

• New deaths: 15

• Cases per 100,00 people, past two weeks: 439

Across the state, 25,000 new cases have been reported in the past two weeks. In that same time period, 565 cases have been reported in Bibb County and 409 in Houston County.

In Georgia, 40% of people have been fully vaccinated, and 46% have received one shot. Bibb County has reported vaccinations at a lower rate, with 35% of county residents fully vaccinated, and 39% with one shot.

To find out where to get a vaccine, visit vaccines.gov.

New CDC guidance

The CDC released new guidance in late July as coronavirus cases spiked across the country. The agency’s suggestions marked a shift in its recommendations, which had previously noted that vaccinated folks didn’t have to wear masks or socially distance.

• Fully vaccinated people should wear masks in public, indoor settings if they’re in areas with substantial or high COVID-19 transmission.

• Fully vaccinated people may also choose to wear a mask regardless of their area’s transmission level, especially if they’re immunocompromised or at “increased risk for severe disease from COVID-19” or if they live with someone who is immunocompromised, at an increased risk or not fully vaccinated.

• Fully vaccinated people should get tested three-to-five days after they’re exposed to COVID-19.

• Fully vaccinated people should also wear a face mask in public indoor settings for 14 days after exposure or until they test negative and should isolate if they test positive.

• The CDC still recommends that fully vaccinated people without COVID-19 symptoms and who have not had a known exposure to the virus be “exempted from routine screening testing programs, if feasible.”

• Unvaccinated people should get vaccinated.

What does “substantial or high COVID-19 transmission” mean?

Health officials define substantial transmission as when between 50 and 99.99 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people have been reported in the past seven days, while high transmission indicates 100 or more new cases per 100,000 people have been reported in the past seven days.

According to the CDC’s COVID data tracker, almost every county in Georgia falls into the substantial or high, including Bibb, Houston, Peach, Baldwin, Twiggs, Monroe, Jones and Wilkinson counties.

This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 11:35 AM.