Delta Air Lines employees who choose not to get vaccinated for COVID-19 are about to face a hefty increase on their health insurance premiums.
Starting November 1, employees who receive health benefits through the company will be hit with a $200 monthly surcharge unless they are vaccinated.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian notified the company's roughly 75,000 employees Wednesday, citing steep costs to cover workers who are hospitalized with the virus. He said the average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost Delta $50,000 per person. Employees who were hospitalized in recent weeks since the rise of the delta variant have all been unvaccinated, he said.
Related
"While we can be proud of our 75% vaccination rate, the aggressiveness of the variant means we need to get many more of our people vaccinated, and as close to 100% as possible," Bastian said in a statement. "This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company."
The airline is also taking other "robust actions" to increase its employee vaccination rate. Effective immediately, unvaccinated employees are required to wear masks in all indoor Delta settings. Unvaccinated employees will also have to submit to weekly COVID testing beginning September 12. Also effective September 30, COVID pay protection will only be provided to fully vaccinated individuals who are experiencing a breakthrough infection.
Back in May, Delta issued a policy requiring all new hires to be vaccinated, but the mandate did not extend to current employees.
"With this week's announcement that the FDA has granted full approval for the Pfizer vaccine, the time for you to get vaccinated is now," Bastian said. "Vaccinations are the safest, most effective, and most powerful tool we have to achieve our goals, live up to our values and move forward."
Related
