Delta Air Lines' $200 each month experiment for changing unvaccinated employees' minds seems to work

September 14, 2021: -Americans infamously vote with their wallets. It turns out they may get vaccinated against Covid with their wallets, too.

In the two weeks since Delta Air Lines 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 on Thursday. “I think that is a huge number in terms of shifting that group that’s most reluctant,” he said.

Of the airline’s 80,000 employees, 20,000 remain unvaccinated, added Ting, 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 August 25 and will go into effect on November 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 of a hospital stays 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 strongly opposed to getting the vaccine. But the airline’s negative financial incentive has resonated.

According to Ting, the announcement boosted Delta’s vaccination rate from 74% to 78% in just two weeks, 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.” He said that those individuals are on the fence, have questions, and want to do more research to decide on their timeline.

The Covid vaccines are rigorously researched, scrutinized, and evaluated for safety and efficacy by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A vast amount of data shows that vaccines effectively protect against Covid.

Ting said he continues to meet with employees individually to educate them on the importance of vaccination to accelerate their timelines.