Lourenco Goncalves, CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, told CNBC on Wednesday that the steelmaker’s decision to offer workers a bonus to get the Covid-19 vaccine has paid off.
In an interview with “Mad Money” with Jim Cramer, Goncalves said 75% of the company’s employees are now vaccinated. At crucial plants like Indiana Harbor and a new facility in Toledo, Ohio, the rate is even higher, at 78% and 81%, respectively, he said.
Cleveland-Cliffs announced its intention to give a $ 1,500 bonus to workers who received the Covid vaccine in July. At the time, 35% of the company’s employees were vaccinated, according to a statement.
“All the locations that had a vaccination rate above 75%, instead of the $ 1,500, we paid $ 3,000, so we doubled” the incentive, Goncalves said. “We have 31 of our 46 locations above 75%,” he added.
The Cleveland-Cliffs vaccination bonus is an example of the ways America has tried to combat hesitation in the United States.
Overall, approximately 73% of vaccine-eligible Americans (people 12 years of age or older) have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine while 62.4% are fully vaccinated, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control. Disease Control and Prevention.
Goncalves tried to interpret the decision to be vaccinated as a safety in the workplace, saying that “there are many things that do not belong when it comes to … a serious health scare problem like Covid.”
“I think we have solved it and we are very happy that we no longer have any problems with Covid in our plants,” he said.