Target is giving workers free rides to get COVID-19 vaccines

Target is offering an incentive beyond cash to encourage its workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine: a free ride.

The chain on Wednesday said it will give its more than 350,000 hourly employees up to four hours of pay — two hours for each dose they receive– and free Lyft rides of up to $15 each way to get to and from their vaccine appointments.

The news comes as companies from Kroger to Starbucks announce similar plans to pay their workers to get vaccinated.

Kroger is giving a one-time $100 payment to employees if they show proof that they’ve received the full manufacturer-recommended doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Aldi, Trader Joe’s and Instacart have also announced that they would pay workers to encourage them to get vaccinated. Starbucks earlier this week said it is giving up to two hours of paid time off per dose to its employees.

The companies’ policies come amid a slow start to the vaccine rollout in the United States. More than 42 million vaccine doses have so far been distributed, according to the latest CDC data, and about 10% of the US population has received at least one dose of a vaccine. Federal officials had said 20 million people would have received first doses by the end of 2020.

Target also said it is partnering with CVS, which has 1,700 locations in Target stores nationwide, to offer vaccines in the future to its workers within its stores and distribution centers.