A 'huge number' of Delta employees rushed out to get vaccinated after the company's decision to enforce $200 fines on workers who refused the shot.
The new policy will take effect November 1, and staffers using the airline's health insurance will face a $200 premium each month if unvaccinated at that point, CEO Ed Bastian announced late last August in a memo sent across the company.
'The average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost Delta $50,000 per person. This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company,' the memo reasoned.
Following the declaration, nearly 4,000 Delta employees out of an approximate 20,000 who had yet to get vaccinated have since been spurred to get the jab, the company's Chief Health Officer, Dr. Henry Ting, said Thursday, during a media briefing presided over by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Nearly 4,000 Delta employees out of an approximate 20,000 who had yet to get vaccinated have since been spurred to get the jab after a memo from the CEO threatened workers with monthly fines
Vaccination rates have increased following the emergence of the COVID-19 virus' Delta variant
The Delta variant surge in August had brought daily COVID-19 cases up to nearly 300,00, and although cases began to dip in September, the nation experienced another dramatic uptick
'Just within the two weeks of the announcement, we've seen nearly 20 percent - or one-fifth - of that 20,000 decide to get the vaccine,' Ting said.
Ting remarked that the sudden uptick reflected a 'huge number' of staff that were influenced to get the jab - especially taking into account the hesitancy of those 20,000 initial holdouts - even though it's only about a 4 percent jump.
Before Bastian's declaration, approximately 74 percent of Delta's workforce had received the vaccine. Now, that number has increased to 78 percent.
'That last 4 percent is very different from the first 4 percent,' Ting attested, referencing unvaccinated staff's initial reluctance to get the shot.
The new policy will take effect November 1, and staffers using the airline's health insurance will face a $200 premium each month if unvaccinated at that point
Ting also pointed out that Delta did not observe any turnover or resignations as a result of the new guidelines set on employees.
The airline has also mandated that all new hires be vaccinated, a decision that, according to Ting, has not deterred candidates applying for Delta's thousands of open job positions.
Airlines issuing the mandate are fueling a national debate on whether or not companies and government are overreaching, amid fears vaccine approval has been rushed.
United announced that the carrier will fire employees who refuse to follow their mandate, going as far as to placing those who refuse to get the jab due to religious or medical reasons on unpaid or medical leave, respectively.
The airline has also mandated that all new hires be vaccinated, a decision that has not deterred candidates applying for Delta's thousands of open job positions
Hawaiian is giving staff until November 1 to receive their second shot, if they are getting a two-dose vaccine.
The airline will only allow exemptions from its vaccine mandate on the basis of religious or medical reasons, while low-cost carrier Frontier said its employees can opt out of the vaccine through weekly testing.
Southwest, on the other hand, will 'continue to strongly encourage' employees to get vaccinated, however, its stance on requiring employees to get the jab has not changed, CEO Gary Kelly said in an internal memo obtained by CNN.
'Obviously, I am very concerned about the latest Delta variant, and the effect on the health and Safety of our Employees and our operation, but nothing has changed,' Kelly said.
Before the shift in company policy, approximately 74 percent of Delta's workforce had received the vaccine. Now, that number has increased to 78 percent
In a similar case, American Airlines will not require employees to show proof of vaccination, but will offer workers who get vaccinated by the end of August one extra day of vacation in 2022 as incentive.
'We certainly encourage it everywhere we can, encourage it for our customers and our employees, but we're not putting mandates in place,' American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said in a New York Times podcast interview.
Outside the airline industry, the US military, high-profile hospitals and US universities have issued vaccine requirements, and many more have joined the trend after the Pfizer vaccine was given full approval on August 23.
Companies such as Google, Netflix, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook have also issued companywide mandates to curb the spread of COVID.
A multitude of carriers are now issuing vaccine mandates, especially after the Pfizer vaccine was given full approval on August 23
These mandates come amid Biden's new, aggressive approach to quelling the Covid-19 pandemic - which, according to the White House, will affect two-thirds of the American workforce.
The strategy involves six steps aimed at boosting the US vaccination rate, which fell over the summer as a new wave fueled by the Delta variant plunged health care systems in areas with largely unvaccinated populations back into disarray.
The Delta variant surge in August had brought daily COVID-19 cases up to nearly 300,00, and although cases began to dip in September, the nation had experienced another dramatic uptick on Thursday.
The CDC reported more than 163,000 new cases, and nearly 1,650 new deaths
About 73.4 per cent of Americans over the age of 12 have at least one vaccine dose, but less than 63 per cent are fully vaccinated - far short of the threshold to reach herd immunity.
Biden's approach plans to mandate all federal employees and federal contractors get vaccinated.
President Joe Biden slammed the 80 million Americans who have yet to get a COVD vaccine shot,
