Covid-19 vaccinations for younger essential workers wanted by industry leaders

Thursday, 19 August 2021

New World Waitara owner Craig Williams gets his vaccine from practice nurse Rebecca Salter at the Waitara vaccination centre.

Calls are growing for early vaccination of younger essential workers and taking vaccines into the workplaces.

John Crocker, Unite's national secretary, believes any essential worker should have immediate access to a vaccine.

“If they're leaving the house to work today, they should be able to get a vaccine today. They should be absolute first priority. Other people should be bumped. If people are leaving the house because they have to, then they should have access to the vaccine.

“It's not just about a moral duty to these people … it will also protect everybody.'

The Government is pressing ahead with plans to vaccinate the general population against Covid-19 even though only 20 per cent of those in the vulnerable group three have had their first dose. (First published 22 July, 2021)

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On Thursday the Government said this was on the horizon, with essential public-facing workers, including 50,000 supermarket workers, on the priority list for vaccinations.

Crocker, whose union represents fast food workers and hotel workers, also favours setting up vaccination clinics in the workplace.

“I think when you look at the [latest Covid] locations of interest, what we're looking at here is a lot of retail and a lot of hospitality.

Construction leaders are looking for ways to get vaccines more easily to their workers.

“We're going to have younger workers, and what we've seen overseas is their vaccination rates are lower and a lot are more vulnerable.

“We think it should be as easy for them to access as possible.”

Vaccinations resumed in many locations on Thursday, but at present those between 30 and 40 must wait until August 25 and those between 16 and 30 can book from September 1.

National’s police spokesperson Simeon Brown urged the Government to vaccinate more police officers, saying only 2669 frontline officers have both jabs.

Just under 3000 had received their first dose, he said. “Police officers need to be fully vaccinated immediately.”

The Warehouse Distribution Centre in Wiri was the one of the first points of a company vaccination roll-out this week.

Vaccinations at building supply centres, building sites and supermarkets are also being discussed.

Dean Kimpton, chair of the Construction Sector Accord Forum, talked with many leaders in the industry on Tuesday and said vaccinations were top of mind.

Many people in construction were under 40, and while there was no appetite to jump the queue, he said there was a concern that vaccines be more accessible.

“A lot of people in the sector come from vulnerable groups.”

Ben Peterson, national organiser for First Union, said many supermarket workers were clearly essential and “in our view, they could have been prioritised a little bit more”.

On-site vaccination “would make sense to us”.

The Ministry of Health is already piloting vaccination schemes with four large New Zealand employers, Mainfreight, Fonterra, The Warehouse Group and Fisher and Paykel Healthcare.

On Tuesday, workers at The Warehouse staff at Wiri and Northcote were set to be among the first in a vaccination campaign which was intended to reach about 1700 staff.

More than 200 other workplaces have also indicated to the Ministry that they are keen to have their staff vaccinated.

The ministry said it would focus on employers with large staff numbers, high numbers of Māori or Pasifika workers, rural workforces or shift workers.

MidCentral DHB has also begun vaccinating workers at AFFCO’s Fielding beef processing plant.

“Research shows that Māori and Pasifika are more likely to get really sick from Covid-19, and we wanted to give our staff the opportunity to not just protect themselves from the virus, but also their whānau and wider community,” plant manager Ann Nuku said.

One essential worker for a hardware chain told Stuff that retail workers were not often seen as essential workers, even though many were working under Level 4.

While he agreed wholeheartedly that health workers, supermarket workers, police and fire staff should be at the front of the vaccine queue, those on the retail frontline or in the freight industry were seldom viewed the same way.

“We hear nothing about the long haul truck drivers, through the nature of their job, are potential carriers of the virus from one region to the other.

“While we all go about our jobs with as much care, responsibility and PPE as we can, there is still a risk, especially with these more potent variants of the virus.

“However, along with the likes of farmers, we are never talked about as being a person that is an essential worker, will we be ushered to the front of the line to get the jab?”