By: Alyssa Wilson

Delta Airlines employees who are unvaccinated will be required to pay an additional $200 per month in healthcare coverage, the company announced Wednesday 

RELATED: NYC: Teachers and Staff Must Get COVID-19 Vaccine 

CEO Ed Bastian shared a memo saying, “Today I’m pleased to announce that we’ve reached the milestone of 75% of our people vaccinated, which puts us one step closer to getting back to what we do best – connecting the world and running the best airline on the planet. I want to personally thank all of you who have taken the time to receive a vaccination – your actions are making a real difference.”  

Effective immediately, Delta’s unvaccinated employees will be required to wear masks indoors. In September, those unvaccinated employees will then be required to take a COVID-19 test every week and those who test positive will need to isolate and stay away from work.  

RELATED: California and New York Require Government Workers to Get COVID-19 Vaccine 

Unvaccinated employees will be enrolled in the company’s healthcare plan on November 1 and will be subject to a $200 monthly surcharge.  

“The average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost Delta $50,000 per person,” Bastian announced. “This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company.” In addition to the surcharge, unvaccinated employees will not be eligible for COVID pay protection.  

BNC chief legal correspondent Dr. Laura McNeil saidDelta Airlines is within its legal rights to create the surcharge.  

“Delta Airlines is taking a strong stand,” she said. “It’s actually a very creative incentive to push vaccinations. It’ll be interesting to see if that drastically increases the numbers of employees that change their mind and decide they want to be vaccinated.”  

McNeil said companies and other entities have a stronger standing in mandating vaccines now that the Food and Drug Administration fully authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.  

RELATED: FDA Grants Full Approval for Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine 

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