The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have announced that tax credits are now available under President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan to further assist businesses, including providing paid leave for employees receiving coronavirus vaccinations.

The tax credit for small- and medium-sized businesses is expected to fully cover the cost of giving employees paid time off to get vaccinated, as well as to recover from any potential side effects.

Biden has also called on employers to tap into their resources, such as possible monetary incentives, to encourage more vaccinations.

“Every employee should get paid leave to get a shot, and businesses should know that they can provide it without a hit to their bottom line,” Biden said in a speech at the White House.

“There’s no excuse for not getting it done,” he added.

According to the plan, for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than five hundred employees, the tax credit will offset paid leave for up to $511 per day per employee. The credits can cover up to ten workdays—or eighty hours of work—between April 1 and September 30.

“This new information is a shot in the arm for struggling small employers who are working hard to keep their businesses going while also watching out for the health of their employees,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement.

“Our work on this issue is part of a larger effort by the IRS to assist the nation recover from the pandemic,” he added.

The tax credits are also refundable, which means that “the employer is entitled to payment of the full amount of the credits if it exceeds the employer’s share of the Medicare tax,” the release said.

Moreover, “if the eligible employer does not have enough federal employment taxes on deposit to cover the amount of the anticipated credits, the eligible employer may request an advance by filing Form 7200, Advance Payment of Employer Credits Due to COVID-19.”

On Wednesday, Biden announced that his administration had reached its ambitious goal of two hundred million vaccine shots administered during his first one hundred days in office. Its previous goal of one hundred million shots was surpassed in just fifty-eight days.

According to the latest data, half of all U.S. adults—and 80 percent of senior citizens—have received at least one shot.

“The broad swath of American adults still remain largely unvaccinated,” Biden said, adding that “too many younger Americans may still think they don’t need to get vaccinated” and that the country was entering a “new phase” of the national vaccination effort.

As of Monday, all fifty states had expanded vaccine eligibility to include everyone aged sixteen and older.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.