UFCW 21 Response to President Biden’s Changes to Vaccine Prioritization

We have said from the beginning of our COVID-19 vaccine discussions that essential workers should not be pitted against each other for access to lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines. During the initial rollout of a limited supply of vaccine, we have been heartened to see Governor Inslee’s vaccination planning be guided by science and focused on equity. Essential workers like health care workers and food-supply-chain workers who have been maintaining our critical infrastructure must be prioritized in vaccine rollout, alongside older people who are most vulnerable to severe COVID-19 complications. Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities who have been hardest hit by COVID-19 must be given equitable access that acknowledges the reality of this pandemic and the ways it has disproportionately impacted them. Those continue to be the guiding principles of Washington State’s vaccine program.

Unfortunately, President Biden announced yesterday a major federal disruption to our state’s science- and equity-based vaccine program in an attempt to force teachers back into the classroom.

“Essential grocery store workers, food processing workers, and agricultural workers have spent a full year on the front lines of this pandemic and continue to face daily risks to our health and safety just to keep our communities fed,” said Samuel Dancy, QFC worker and UFCW 21 member. “We are still waiting for access to vaccines, and I was expecting any day to see the opening of our state’s next phase, which would start vaccinating me and my coworkers alongside teachers and childcare workers. I’m disappointed to learn President Biden is trying to prioritize vaccinations for teachers over all other workers.” 

“We pushed back against former President Trump when his COVID response was anti-science, and we will do the same with President Biden. The risks faced by grocery store workers and other essential workers over the past year have been enormous, and with new COVID variants arriving those risks have not abated. In addition, we know that one of the reasons BIPOC communities have been so heavily impacted by COVID is that people of color are overrepresented in dangerous front-line essential work.  Governor Inslee led with science and equity and we call on the Biden administration to do the same thing,” said Faye Guenther, UFCW 21 President.

UFCW 21 condemns this move from the Biden administration and we will do whatever we can to keep our members and all essential front-line workers in line for COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible. We look forward to working with our labor and community allies to do exactly that.