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(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, file / AP Newsroom)
Unvaccinated Delta Air Lines employees who refuse to get inoculated against the coronavirus are going to pay the price.
Starting Nov. 1, unvaccinated employees on Delta’s account-based healthcare plan will get hit with a $200 monthly surcharge.
It's a necessary policy, according to CEO Ed Bastian, who noted that the average hospital stay for COVID-19 costs the carrier about $50,000 per person.
"This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company," Bastian said in a memo to employees Wednesday.
Following the rise of the delta variant – which has fueled a surge in infections across the nation – "all Delta employees who have been hospitalized with COVID were not fully vaccinated," Bastian further noted.