Starting Monday, Delta Air Lines plans to offer vaccinations to its Georgia employees who are 65 and older.
Atlanta-based Delta will use part of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport’s Concourse C, half of which has been closed off since early on in the pandemic because of the sharp decline in air travel. It also will use space at the Delta Flight Museum, which is on its headquarters campus and also has been closed to the public.
The airline “is going to take a very aggressive vaccine approach,” said David Garrison, Delta vice president of corporate safety, security and compliance.
Delta is offering the vaccinations Feb. 8-14 and plans to expand to more employees as they become eligible under Georgia’s guidelines, according to a Delta posting for employees reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Georgia Department of Public Health is currently administering COVID-19 vaccines to adults ages 65 and older, health care workers, long-term care residents and staff, and law enforcement, firefighters and first responders. Supplies are limited.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a Feb. 1 memo that about 690 of the company’s 75,000 employees had reported receiving at least one vaccination shot.
A health care provider will administer the on-site vaccinations. In its posting to employees, the airline said it will look to replicate the model used in Georgia in other states where it can partner with a provider.
Bastian told employees that the company is working with authorities to prioritize immunizations for frontline Delta workers. He encouraged employees to get vaccinated when their time comes.
The City of Atlanta has provided vaccines to Atlanta police and firefighters, including those based at the airport.
Airport spokesman Andy Gobeil said he believes other airport workers fall under the category of essential workers and could be among those next declared eligible to receive vaccines. The airport has been surveying sites on its campus where vaccinations can be administered.
