Bank of America offering PTO for employees to get COVID-19 vaccine

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Bank of America says it's offering all U.S. employees paid time off to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to a Bank of America spokesperson, 19,000 Texas employees can take up this offer and will have the option to use two half days of paid time off.

Back in December, the Centers for Disease Control recommended bank workers, whose day-to-day duties involve customers interaction, should be part of Phase 1C of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Coronavirus has killed more than a half-million Americans. Deaths and new cases per day have plummeted over the past two months, though they are still running alarmingly high.

In Texas, state data shows more than 2.3 million Texans have contracted COVID-19 and more than 43,000 people have died across the state.

The U.S. is averaging nearly 1,800 deaths and 62,000 newly confirmed infections per day. The U.S. has administered over 82 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, according to the Centers Disease Prevention and Control. More than 21% of the nation's adults have received at least one shot, and close to 11% have been fully vaccinated.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.