Joe Biden urges states to pay Americans $100 to get jabbed

US President Joe Biden has called on state and local leaders to make $100 payments to newly vaccinated Americans in an effort to combat flagging vaccine rates and a surge in cases.

The latest figures on vaccinations show that just under half of the US population (49.8 per cent) are fully vaccinated. According to official figures, 343 million doses have been given and 164 million people are now fully vaccinated.

Vaccination rates vary wildly across the country, with the lowest rates in southern and western regions, which are now experiencing Covid outbreaks. Alabama has the lowest rate of vaccination, with just 34 per cent of citizens fully jabbed.

According to official figures, virus-related deaths have now climbed to around 2,000 per week across the country. New cases are now at their highest point in the last three months, with about 60,000 being recorded per day.

Speaking from the White House on Thursday, Biden said that rising cases are a result of the highly contagious Delta variant’s spread, made worse by a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”. He said: “People are dying and will die who don’t have to die.”

Announcing new measures to curb the spread, Biden said: “I’m calling on all states and local governors to use funding they have received . . . to give $100 to anyone who gets fully vaccinated.”

The White House said that the payments could come out of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year.

Biden said he knew some people who were already vaccinated might think that was “unfair” but that “if incentives help us beat this virus I think we should use them.” 

The President also issued a strict new vaccine requirement for US federal workers – the nation’s largest workforce with some two million people.

Under the new rules, any US government workers who refuse to get vaccinated will be required to undergo frequent testing, wear masks and social distance, and face restrictions on official travel. 

The move follows the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) revision of its face mask policy earlier in the week due to the Delta variant surges.

Indoor mask use is now recommended for people in areas with higher rates of Covid transmission but New York, California, and several other states have gone one step further – requiring that masks be worn in public indoor spaces.