Wake County announces vaccine policy for government employees along with $250 incentive, bonus leave

All Wake County government employees must be fully vaccinated from COVID-19 by Sept. 15 or be subject to weekly tests.

Wake County Manager David Ellis announced the policy on Wednesday as a result of the Delta variant spreading and prompting a surge in cases, largely among the unvaccinated.

“I wouldn’t be encouraging our employees to get vaccinated if I didn’t think it was the right thing to do,” said Ellis. “We’ve led the effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 since it first appeared in our community, and this is the next step we must take to protect our 4,200 employees and the people they serve every day.”

Wake employees who are already fully vaccinated or eventually become fully vaccinated by Sept. 15 will receive $250 and two days of bonus leave. The employees must receive either a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine to receive the incentives. Employees who choose not to get the vaccine must get tested weekly for COVID-19, starting on Sept. 20.

As of Wednesday, more than 76% of adults in Wake County have received at least one vaccine dose.

This requirement will stay in place until the county’s positivity rate is less than 5% and there is no significant or high community transmission. For more information about where to get the vaccine in Wake County, check out the county's COVID-19 vaccine website.