Ohio will pay $5.8 million in bonuses to state employees who got COVID-19 vaccine

Ohio is trying to get its 50,000 state employees vaccinated. 

In July the state offered $100 checks to any state employee who reported getting their first of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Then, in September they upped the ante. State agencies where 65% or more employees reported being vaccinated by Oct. 15 would get $300 checks. And agencies with 85% of their active employees on the record as having at least one dose by Nov. 15 will get $600.

That's a total of $1,000 in bonuses for state employees. 

Here's how it's going:

A total of 24,607 employees will receive $100 for being vaccinated, according to data from the Ohio Department of Administrative Services. That totals about $2.5 million. 

Of that group, 11,127 employees from 37 state agencies will get the $300 bonus for a total of about $3.3 million.

And it looks like eight state agencies are already eligible for the next bonus of $600, including the folks who work in Gov. Mike DeWine's office.

Administrative services also gave the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau the percentages of state employees at each agency who reported being vaccinated.

The Employment Relations Board came out on top with a 100% vaccination rate. And the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction was on the bottom with 28.5%. 

But that doesn't mean nearly three-quarters of DRC employees aren't vaccinated, spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said. 

She put the agency's actual vaccination rate at about 58%. 

Why the difference? Not everyone who got vaccinated filled out the paperwork for the bonus checks. 

"Many of these agencies hosted COVID-19 clinics prior to the announcement of the incentive program," DAS spokeswoman Melissa Vince said in a statement. "It is probable there is a sizable number of employees at these agencies who were vaccinated during this time but have not yet submitted documentation."

Anna Staver is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.