Biden calls on states to offer $ 100 cash payments for vaccination

President Joe Biden on Thursday called on state and local authorities to offer residents cash payments of $ 100 as an incentive to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, his administration’s latest move to get Americans vaccinated as the highly delta variant contagious is spreading.

In a speech at the White House Thursday afternoon, Biden cited research from the University of California, Los Angeles in which about a third of unvaccinated people said a cash payment would make them more likely get vaccinated, according to the details of the plan. released by the administration.

“The US Rescue Plan (ARP) has provided states, territories and localities with resources that can be used to offer incentives to increase immunization rates, and today the President will call on every state, territory and local government to use that ARP funding to provide $ 100 to anyone who gets vaccinated, ”the administration said in a statement ahead of the speech.

Biden also announced that his administration would require federal workers to prove their immunization status or go through a series of rigorous safety protocols, as well as other measures to increase the vaccination rate.

The latest vaccination campaign comes as coronavirus cases in the United States start to rise again, with the highly contagious delta variant fueling infection rates. People infected with the delta variant carry up to 1,000 times more virus in their nasal passages than other strains, resulting in higher transmissibility, even among vaccinees, according to federal health officials.

Infectious disease experts have warned of a potential increase in infections as the fall season approaches, when Americans return indoors and employers begin to bring workers back to the office.

Health officials argue that Covid vaccines are highly protective against the variant, especially against serious illness and death. Yet the pace of vaccinations in the United States has slowed in recent months.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows nearly 800,000 shots recorded nationwide on Sunday, the highest one-day total in weeks, but still well below peak levels.

The seven-day average of reported vaccinations rose 16% over the past week to 615,000 injections per day Thursday, from more than 3 million daily vaccinations reported in mid-April.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced that authorities will pay anyone who visits a city-run vaccination site for their first dose of vaccine $ 100.

Biden’s comments come two days after the CDC reversed course of its previous guidelines and recommended fully vaccinated Americans who live in areas with high Covid infection rates to resume wearing face masks indoors . The guidelines cover about two-thirds of the U.S. population, according to a CNBC analysis.

While the delta variant continues to hit unvaccinated people the hardest, some vaccinated people could carry higher levels of the virus than previously thought and potentially pass it on to others, the director said on Tuesday. CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky. She added that the variant behaves “uniquely and differently from earlier strains of the virus.”

“This pandemic continues to pose a serious threat to the health of all Americans,” Walensky told reporters on an appeal.