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For months, essential workers put their own health on the line to take care of others and make the country run. But as states face difficult decision to whom to administer limited doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the question becomes: who is most essential?
The term “essential worker” was first used by states and localities to make exceptions to home support orders in the early stages of the pandemic. But each state, local, tribal and territorial government has applied different definitions.
In March, Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security, published guidelines who identified several categories of essential workers.
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The list covered workers in healthcare, law enforcement, first responders, food and agriculture, energy, water and wastewater, transportation and logistics, public works and infrastructure support services, communications and information technology, services, chemicals, defense, shelter and hygiene.
One thing is for sure, there aren’t enough vaccinations for all essential workers, multiple sources told Reuters. And there is a lot of competition. Los Angeles Times report says some wealthy Californians are giving doctors tens of thousands of dollars and having their personal assistants call doctors every day in an attempt to get their hands on the vaccine.
Right now, the power to determine who gets the vaccine is in the hands of those who distribute it, namely health services and pharmacies. Reuters asked pharmacy operators CVS, Walgreens and Kroger Co, all of which referred to national and local guidelines.
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“If the jurisdiction requests Walgreens support, Walgreens will distribute a voucher or authorization form that the individual can use to make an appointment for a vaccination,” a Walgreens spokeswoman said in a statement to Reuters.
“In some cases, the state will identify and verify individuals before they are referred to us for vaccination,” a Kroger spokesperson told Reuters.
This raises more questions about how essential workers will need to prove their identity in addition to those who remain. But two organizations – the Consumer Brands Association and the Food Industry Association – told Reuters they were doing their best to navigate the guidelines.
“We understand that states may have different designation standards, but (we are working) to provide our members with a resource to help reduce confusion,” said a spokesperson for the Food Industry Association in a statement to Reuters.
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