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Biden pushes for paid leave to get a COVID shot

Employers should provide paid time off for their workers to get vaccinated, the president says.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
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  • I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Corinne Reichert
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Paid time off could cover workers while they recover after getting the shot, too.

Sarah Tew/CNET

US President Joe Biden is pushing for all employers to provide their workers with paid leave so they can go get a COVID-19 shot. The paid time off should also cover any time it takes for workers to recover from the after-effects of the vaccine, the White House said Wednesday.

Biden is set to push a paid leave tax credit to offset these costs for any companies with less than 500 employees as part of the American Rescue Plan.

Read more: Vaccine passports for COVID-19: How they'll be a part of global travel

"Providing paid time off for vaccinations is an investment in the safety, productivity and health of an employer's own workforce and their community," the White House said. "No working person in this country should lose a single dollar from their paycheck to take time to get the shot or recover from it."

Biden says he should meet his goal of 200 million shots in his first 100 days in office on Thursday.

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