NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Families of MTA workers who die of COVID-19 will no longer be eligible to receive a $500,000 death benefit if the employee was unvaccinated, according to a new report.
According to a report from The City, the MTA is planning to extend the lump-sum payment through the end of the year and will allow families to continue on health insurance plans for three additional years after the death of an MTA employee.
However, workers who refuse to get their shots will not be relinquishing those benefits, should they die from the coronavirus, a senior official told the outlet.
The rule change is the latest effort by the MTA to boost vaccination numbers. Currently, the inoculation rate at the MTA is still under 60% – a figure that has some agency officials concerned as more New Yorkers return to the city’s buses and subways.
MTA board member Bob Linn says he is especially worried as New York City school children return to the transit system.
“It's just not acceptable that we're exposing those kids to workers who are not vaccinated,” he said.
Vincent Tessitore, another board member, noted that a lot of workers would rather leave the agency that get the shot, something he said would be devastating to the MTA.
“We are already challenged right now with manpower count,” he said.
Tessitore said the MTA should move slowly on a vaccination mandate.
Mandatory weekly tests for unvaccinated employees have already been pushed back until mid-October.
According to the MTA, 70% of staffers across the entire agency have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The number falls to about 55% for all subway and bus employees.
Nearly 200 MTA employees have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.