PRWA Statement on COVID-19 Vaccination
Thumbnail image taken by Jared Wickerham for the Pittsburgh City Paper
As COVID-19 vaccines become available to the public in order of assessed risk and need, Pittsburgh Restaurant Workers Aid is alarmed that restaurant and food service workers have not been prioritized for vaccination in the state of Pennsylvania. Gov. Wolf announced on March 15th that restaurants in PA can increase to 75% indoor capacity and lessen restrictions starting on April 4, 2021. Even before this increase to indoor capacity, workers have been exposed to COVID-19 while operating at 50% or 25% capacity. While operating at partial capacity may prevent some restaurants from going out of business, it increases workers' risk of contracting COVID-19. Even in times when restaurants have been prohibited from indoor dining or any in-person dining at all, workers operate take-out and delivery service. Restaurants cannot transition to remote work like in other industries. The reality of working a restaurant shift makes social distancing difficult if not impossible, even when mask wearing is practiced diligently. A recent University of California study has found that line cooks are at higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than any other occupation. Higher mortality rates were also found among other BOH staff (dishwashers, chefs, bakers, etc.) and bartenders, many of whom were Black and Latino workers.
Essential workers from many different industries, including healthcare, home and childcare, education, transportation, and agriculture, who have put themselves on the line to keep our society afloat through this crisis, are now gaining access to life-saving COVID-19 vaccines. Eligibility requirements have been determined on a state-by-state basis or by cities with large enough populations. Many of these industries have been appropriately prioritized. In PA, restaurant workers are slated to receive vaccines in the 1C stage; currently, PA is in the 1A stage, where it has been for the past 3 months. In Philadelphia, which is in its own jurisdiction, restaurant workers have already begun to receive vaccinations. Officials there recognized the public health importance of prioritizing workers in the industry, and allowed them to be vaccinated ahead of the 1C stage. Given the moderate pace of vaccine rollout thus far, it could take anywhere from several weeks to several months to reach the next stage(s) and therefore is highly unlikely that restaurant workers can be vaccinated by April 4th (just less than 3 weeks away) if we are to remain in the 1C stage.
Restaurant workers cannot wait for vaccines if the indoor capacity is increased. We cannot jeopardize our health and safety for employer profit. We cannot jeopardize our unemployment benefits for refusing to come back to work due to health concerns. Forcing workers to return to work without the vaccine is forcing workers to expose themselves of the virus, and creates the potential for restaurants to become host to COVID-19 outbreaks.
As restaurant, hospitality, and food service workers, we have been waiting and wondering when and if assistance will arrive to protect us, whether in the form of direct financial aid, improvements to the unemployment system, healthcare reforms, and now access to vaccines. The expansion of vaccine availability, including access to the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine, is good news on paper that we hope translates to practice and protects those in our industry who continue to put their health and safety on the line to make a living.
We implore Alison Beam, Acting Secretary of the Department of Health, to give restaurant workers access to the vaccine immediately to protect workers in this industry from the risk of contracting COVID-19. This is the only way workers can return to work operating in restaurants and bars with 75% capacity with some type of health security. The solution is simple; to recognize that all workers deemed essential and facing the public in their work environments are at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19 and should receive the vaccine immediately.