Dollar General Is First Company To Reward Employees Who Get Vaccinated

The Washington Post: Dollar General Is Paying Workers To Get A Covid Vaccine 
Dollar General workers who get the coronavirus vaccine will be rewarded with four hours of pay, the company announced Wednesday, making it one of the first major retailers to incentivize inoculations for its workforce. ... Dollar General said employees will not have to provide proof of their vaccination, only notify the company that they had one. It also said it is encouraging inoculation, not requiring it. (Telford, 1/13)

In other news about who's lining up to get the covid vaccine —

AP: Florida Downplays Reports Of Medical Tourism For Vaccines
Florida was one of the first states to throw open vaccine eligibility to members of the general public over 65, leading to rumors that tourists and day-trippers are swooping in solely for the jab. State officials have moved quickly to disavow such scuttlebutt. Gov. Ron DeSantis said stories of people flying to Florida, getting vaccinated and returning home are overblown. While there have been scattered reports of such interlopers, DeSantis said the nonresidents who are getting shots are almost entirely “snowbirds,” residents who live in the state for several months during the winter and who could infect others if they aren’t vaccinated. (Spencer, Lush and Calvan, 1/13)

NH Times Union: Rye Nursing Home Says Board Members Who Got COVID Shots Did Not Take Vaccine From Staff, Residents 
Board members of a Rye nursing home who received the COVID-19 vaccine last month did not take doses away from workers or residents, the nursing home’s administrator said Wednesday. “It was bad judgment,” said Tom Argue, Webster at Rye administrator, to allow people not part of the “1-A” top-priority group to get the vaccine. It is unknown how many of the 11 board members were vaccinated. (Albertson-Grove, 1/13)

Boston Globe: Baker Says Vaccine Will Be Administered Beginning Monday At Shelters And Prisons
Governor Charlie Baker said Wednesday that Massachusetts will start administering the COVID-19 vaccine Monday to the more than 94,000 people who live and work in congregate care settings such as prisons, shelters, and certain private special education schools. Speaking at his regular State House briefing, the governor said the congregate care facilities can administer the vaccine in multiple ways. They can self-administer the vaccine on site if they meet certain criteria, work with an existing pharmacy or provider partnership to give the shot, or utilize mass vaccination sites such as the one opening Monday for first responders at Gillette Stadium. Asked why a convicted murderer serving a life sentence should get the vaccine before others who aren’t behind bars, Baker said it’s a matter of public health. (Andersen, 1/13)

The Atlantic: Random People Are Lining Up To Get Vaccinated In D.C. Grocery Stores
For more than a week, lines have quietly been forming at certain D.C. supermarket pharmacies, which have started giving away leftover vaccine doses each day just before closing time, usually to between one and three people. Vaccine lines for eligible recipients have already become a common sight in some places, but these shots are available to anyone—not just the health-care and frontline emergency workers who qualified weeks ago in most states, or even those 65 and older, who became eligible in D.C. on Monday. And the lucky few who get a shot also get scheduled for a second dose. At the Giant in Shaw, the crowd by the deli included people who looked old enough to meet the age cutoff and people who looked young enough to be students—all hoping to strike the vaccine jackpot. The most hard-core among them had been up since 4:30 in the morning. (Stern, 1/13)

North Carolina Health News: Family Caregivers Left Behind By Vaccine Plan 
For Mark Newton, each visit to the grocery store tempts fate. He arrives during early or late hours when the business is mostly empty, but he can’t control the checkout line – or the flood of fear that rushes in every time he finds himself surrounded by other too-close patrons, their noses peeking out over masks, or mouths and noses on full display. (Critchfield, 1/14)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas’ Black COVID-19 Task Force Finds Vaccine Distribution Difficult In Early Days Of Fair Park Site
The Black COVID-19 Task Force for the city of Dallas, under the leadership of council member Casey Thomas, gauged the response to the initial vaccine distribution Tuesday during its first meeting of the year. Their verdict? It’s not working. Around 1,600 people were vaccinated at the “mega” site at Fair Park when it opened Monday, according to the city, which wants to meet, if not exceed, that number every day this week. But for a site that the city and Dallas County organized with high-risk Black and Latino populations in mind, critics said the process is confusing, including registration, obtaining an appointment, on-site logistics and following up for the second dose of the vaccine. (Moss, 1/13)

KHN: Vaccination Disarray Leaves Seniors Confused About When They Can Get A Shot 
For weeks, doctors’ phones have been ringing off the hook with anxious older patients on the other end of the line. “When can I get a covid-19 vaccine?” these patients want to know. “And where?” Frustration and confusion are rampant as states and counties begin to offer vaccines to all seniors after giving them first to front-line health care workers and nursing home residents — the groups initially given priority by state and federal authorities. (Graham, 1/14)