CDC PUTS RESTAURANT WORKERS NEXT IN LINE FOR COVID VACCINES

Restaurant workers should be prioritized to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the next phase of inoculations, or right after the elderly and such essential workers as police officers and teachers have gotten their first round of shots, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended Sunday.

The priority list was released by the federal agency as guidance for state and local governments in planning their inoculation strategies. The federal recommendations do not set dates for when various demographic or industry groups can expect to get inoculated. Rather, the directive lists the order in which the recipients should be asked to roll up their sleeves. 

Foodservice workers are part of stage 1c of the ambitious plan, which is just entering phase 1b—the inoculation of individuals aged 75 or older and “Frontline Essential Workers,” or those with a critical social function such as working for delivering mail, driving public buses or carting food from farm to store. Grocery-store workers are part of the latter phase.