The US airline Delta Air Lines will penalize its employees who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 by making them pay a surcharge of $ 200 per month on their health insurance, CEO Ed Bastian announced in an internal memo on Wednesday. “As of November 1, non-vaccinated employees enrolled in Delta’s health insurance plan will be subject to a monthly supplement of $ 200,” said the boss of the company.
“The average hospital stay because of the Covid-19 cost Delta $ 50,000 per person,” said the company, which raised this cost, first estimated in its press release at $ 40,000. The Delta boss added that all of the company’s employees who were infected and had to be hospitalized were “not fully vaccinated.”
Delta Airlines will charge unvaccinated employees $ 200 per month extra for their health benefits. But, they are not mandating vaccination.
While insurers are prohibited from charging higher premiums to unvaccinated people, employers themselves can.
– Larry Levitt (@larry_levitt) August 25, 2021
“It’s time to get vaccinated”
This additional contribution is intended to offset “the financial risk posed for the company by the decision not to be vaccinated”, adds the manager. “While we can be proud of our vaccination rate of 75%” among airline employees, “the aggressiveness of the B.1.617.2 variant means that we need to vaccinate many more employees and as close as 100% possible, ”says Bastian. The company believes that since the US health authority, the FDA, fully approved Pfizer’s vaccine, “it’s time to get vaccinated.”
“We are confident in the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine, which has undergone the same rigorous review as other drugs that have been approved to treat cancer and heart disease, as well as other vaccines,” adds the direction.
The United States fully authorized Pfizer / BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, a move that allows some authorities and companies to impose vaccination without fear of legal recourse. The Moderna laboratory, manufacturer of another vaccine against Covid-19, which has so far also benefited from a temporary authorization, said it had officially filed its request for full authorization with the FDA on Wednesday.