Delta’s $200 per month experiment for changing unvaccinated employees’ minds seems to be working

In the two weeks since Delta announced a $200 monthly health insurance surcharge for unvaccinated employees, 20% of Delta’s unvaccinated employees have already gotten the jab, Dr. Henry Ting, Delta’s chief health officer, said in an Infectious Disease Society of America briefing Thursday. “I think [that’s] a huge number in terms of shifting that group that’s most reluctant,” he said. Of the airline’s 80,000 employees, 20,000 still remain unvaccinated, added Ting, who is also an adjunct professor of medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine, and a professor emeritus at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. The surcharge was first announced on Aug. 25, and will go into effect on Nov. 1. It’s meant to help motivate people to get the Covid vaccine and “address the financial risk” that comes with choosing not to get vaccinated, Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote in the employee memo announcing the move. The airline calculated that the average medical cost associated with a hospital stay for Covid-19 cost the company $50,000 per person. Such a vaccination surge among Delta’s ranks is somewhat surprising: Recent surveys have shown that paying people to get vaccinated isn’t enough to sway those who are strongly opposed to getting the vaccine. But the airline’s negative financial incentive has clearly resonated. The announcement boosted Delta’s vaccination rate from 74% to 78% in just two weeks, according to Ting, who noted that the airline’s current unvaccinated population represents a cohort of people who are “the most reluctant amongst any group, nationally or at Delta Air Lines.” <br/>