Delta Air Lines just announced that they will be implementing a $200 monthly health insurance surcharge for their unvaccinated employees. As of the moment, only 20% of Delta's unvaccinated employees have just gotten the jab.
Delta Airlines Announces $200 Monthly Health Insurance Surcharge
According to the story by CNBC, Delta Air Lines announced that it will be requiring a $200 monthly health insurance surcharge for those employees that remain unvaccinated. As of the moment, 20% of Delta's unvaccinated employees have already gotten the COVID-19 jab, according to Dr. Henry Ting, the chief health officer of Delta.
Dr. Ting noted in an Infectious Disease Society of America briefing that he thinks that that is a large number when it comes to shifting that group that's remained most reluctant. Out of the 80,000 Delta employees, it was noted that 20,000 still remain unvaccinated, according to Ting, who is reportedly also an adjunct professor of medicine at the said Emory University School of Medicine and is also a professor emeritus at the official Mayo Clinic School of Medicine.
Help Fight COVID-19 and Address Financial Risk
The surcharge was initially announced on August 25, 2021, and is supposed to go into effect on November 1, 2021. It is supposedly meant to help motivate people to go out and get the COVID-19 vaccine as well as "address the financial risk" that comes with the choice of not getting vaccinated, according to Ed Bastian, Delta CEO, in an employee memo that announced the move.
The airline actually calculated that the average medical cost that is associated with a hospital stay for COVID-19 would cost the company a whopping $50,000 per person. Such a surge in vaccination among Delta's ranks was notably somewhat surprising. As of the moment, the vaccine passport is already being looked at as a way to help monitor the virus.
COVID-19 Surveys
Some recent surveys have reportedly shown that paying people to get vaccinated is not actually enough to help sway those that are already strongly opposed to getting vaccinated. The airline's negative financial incentive, however, has clearly resonated. Health officials are warning that the Delta variant of COVID-19 could be "eating lungs" of those that remain unvaccinated.
The announcement reportedly boosted Delta's vaccination rate from its original 74% to a whopping 78% in the span of just two weeks, according to Ting. Ting reportedly noted that the airline's current unvaccinated population actually represents a cohort of people who are still the most reluctant in comparison to any group, nationally or even at Delta Air Lines.
Those individuals were reportedly on the fence, have questions, and also want to do more research in order to make decisions based on their very own timeline. The COVId-19 vaccines are reportedly rigorously researched, scrutinized, and also evaluated for safety as well as efficiency by the official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A large amount of data already shows that the vaccine's effectiveness does protect against COVID-19.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
