Clark County COVID-19 vaccine incentive program to end in October

Employees who fall under a commission-operated department are eligible for the incentive program, which was created in March, and have until Oct. 8 to submit documentation in order to receive awards through the program. However, the vaccine series of the employee must be completed by Oct. 1, the Wednesday resolution states.

Proof of vaccination can be submitted to the county’s personnel office (in-person or through mail) or via email to wellness@clarkcountyohio.gov.

Assistant County Administrator Michelle Noble noted that an end date was not included in the March 10 resolution to create the incentives program, as the accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines at the time was unclear.

After receiving full doses of a vaccine, employees would receive four hours of personal time, $50 worth of gift cards from local businesses and wellness points through the county’s wellness program.

Typical vaccine recipients receive five wellness points, which can be used to receive discounts on the county’s health insurance premiums. Full doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, however, allot employees 10 wellness points.

For employees who hold “a sincerely held religious belief that necessitates objection to obtaining the vaccine or employees who should not receive the vaccine due to reasons protected by the ADA” have alternate options to obtain health incentives, the resolution states.

Noble told the News-Sun that 166 of the county commission’s roughly 300 employees are vaccinated.

Funding for the incentive plan, Noble said, should be covered by the COVID-19 relief funding, and the county government should be reimbursed for money spent on the program.

With Gov. Mike DeWine’s Wednesday morning announcement about the unveiling of a second vaccine incentive program, some local entities are looking to create programs of their own. The Clark County Combined Health District, for instance, is working to create an incentive drive that may reward vaccine recipients with passes to the Clark County Fair, communications coordinator Nate Smith confirmed to the News-Sun.