Excerpts from an opinion piece by Waterfront Alliance officials Corney Worrall and Chris Ward. Ward is also former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey:
Who should get priority for the COVID vaccine? Tough question. A multitude of occupations keep life moving along. But consider who’s at the crux of the supply chain: the frontline workers of the shipping industry.
And yet, port workers are not considered frontline workers by the Centers for Disease Control — the federal health agency that issues guidelines for pandemic response and vaccination protocol.
To be sure, the CDC’s guidelines are recommendations offered to states, and it’s up to governors to decide which specific groups will get the vaccine next.
The people of the shipping industry need an early coronavirus vaccine in order to continue their indispensable work.