Abilene City Officials Divided on COVID Vaccine Incentive Program

ABILENE,TX – Abilene city officials are divided on the issue of COVID-19 vaccine incentives for city employees.

City Manager Robert Hanna sent an email to all city employees offering an incentive of 40 hours of paid vacation time if they got vaccinated for COVID-19.

Councilman Weldon Hurt said, “What we are talking about is loss of revenue for lack of production for all this vacation time.”

Councilman Lynn Beard agrees with Hurt that 40 hours is too much. Beard also said that employees who had already been vaccinated should receive something as well.

When the incentive was announced, the employees who had already been vaccined were not eligible for the incentive.

“In my business, I care about my people very much and I don’t want them to get sick but it’s an entirely different animal if a firehouse is taken out of operation,” Beard said.

Plans to bring back an incentive program in a modified form are expected in the coming weeks.