The Tulsa City Council approved an Employee Vaccine Stipend Program to increase vaccination rates among city employees.

Employees who are fully vaccinated by October 15, 2021, will receive a $250 stipend.

Beginning November 1, 2021, every vaccinated employee in a city department in which at least 70 percent of its team members are vaccinated, will receive an additional $250 stipend, which would result in a total of a $500 stipend for vaccinated individuals in departments with a more than 70 percent vaccination rate.

Funding for this program totals nearly $1.8 million, which comes from American Rescue Plan Act funds.

In the period between August 22-28, the Oklahoma State Department of Health reported 19,645 new cases of the Chinese coronavirus. There have been 550,239 confirmed cases since the outbreak in 2020. Oklahoma has 8,001 deaths due to the virus and 189 in the August 22-28 time frame.