Wall Street and finance workers could get COVID vaccines before most Americans

The American Bankers Association said it has asked the CDC to designate the financial services industry as “essential workers,” in accordance with guidelines issued by the Department of Homeland Security.

“We encourage public health authorities to follow existing DHS guidelines and include financial services workers in Group 1b, but we believe frontline bank workers who deal with large numbers of people every day should have priority, at a minimum, ”said Paul Benda, senior vice president, risk policy and cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association.

A vaccine will remain a distant hope for millions of people for several months, as major Western countries, including the United States and Europe, have struck deals with drugmakers for Covid-19 cures, with initial supplies likely to be extremely limited at a time when cases of the fatal infection increase in many parts of the United States

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent group of health experts, on Tuesday recommended that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pass the vaccines first to frontline health workers and residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. facilities.

But after them, essential workers, which could include those working in financial services, are recommended to come in second, ahead of those over 65 and adults with medical conditions that can lead to serious illness. ‘they were contracting Covid-19.

Although constituting an independent panel, ACIP’s recommendations are very influential within the CDC and are often accepted. The latter feeds into official CDC guidelines which, in turn, are disseminated throughout the country.

ACIP has not listed the occupations of those who might fall under critical workers, but DHS defines essential workers as those who conduct a range of operations and services that are typically essential to continue critical infrastructure operations. , and normally included firefighters, teachers. and grocery store workers.

Yet beyond these essential workers, advice from the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency of DHS indicates that those working in financial services should be included in this category.

Even though the CDC follows DHS guidelines, federal agencies do not have the final say as local and state governments have a great deal of leeway over how to prioritize vaccine distribution and determine which workers are essential. .

While some financial services workers such as bank tellers may be at greater risk of exposure to Covid-19, other financial services workers grouped into the category said they were not at Comfortable being put on brackets as essential workers if a vaccine was distributed according to the committee’s recommendations.

“As the son of a nurse and a wife who is a speech therapist in a hospital, I would be comfortable taking a step back on the vaccine,” said Michael Lorizio, senior fixed income trader at Gestion of Manulife Investments.

Many traders have been confined to their homes throughout the pandemic that took hold in March in the United States, although some are still heading to offices outside their homes.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, an influential lobbying group for securities and banking in Washington, did not respond to a request for comment in time for the publication.

The United States on Thursday set another record for new cases and deaths in a single day from the coronavirus disease Covid-19, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there could be 19,500 deaths during for the week ended December 26.