‘They’re not valuing us.’ Why aren’t essential workers in Texas’ newest vaccine group?
Ryan Haney, a 37-year-old truck driver, never stopped working when the pandemic first took hold in Texas. The Dallas-based driver was deemed an essential worker and transported groceries, medical supplies and industrial equipment throughout North Texas — all while taking special care to wear masks and avoid exposure to COVID-19.
But not for lack of trying, the closest Haney has been to the COVID-19 vaccine was when he transported storage freezers to Walmart.
And as the state expanded eligibility Monday to include those 50 and older, Haney is one of the countless essential workers not yet eligible for the vaccine despite working public-facing jobs. A distraught Haney believes essential workers should’ve been included in this 1c group, just like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.
“We’re lucky to have been working and to have had income throughout this pandemic, but we’ve also sacrificed a lot,” he said. “We’ve lost some people, we’ve lost family members and it would be nice to have some sense of security that would come with vaccination for me and all my co-workers.”
The state’s interpretation of phase 1c falls in line with efforts to vaccinate people who have the highest risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19, a State Health Services spokesperson said. Texans aged 50 to 64 make up 20% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths. Those 50 and older represent 93% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.
Now, the state can vaccinate the most affected groups, the spokesperson said.
But that doesn’t cut it for Steve Ruiz, who is on the executive board of the Tarrant County Central Labor Council. He said essential employees are long overdue for vaccine eligibility.
“At one time we’re considered essential and critical. But then we’re just a convenient, expendable workforce,” Ruiz said. “As humans, they’re not valuing us. As workers, they need us.”
From a public health perspective, there is no right or wrong method when it comes to eligibility, said Timothy Callaghan, an assistant professor of health policy management at the Texas A&M School of Public Health. The reality is that the state has decided that it is more important to vaccinate those who are more at risk to die from COVID-19, and some essential workers fall into that category, he said.
“It is true that essential workers are out in public and more likely to get infected, but they’re less likely to be hospitalized and die if infected than some of the individuals in those groups who are currently eligible for vaccines,” Callaghan said.
Vinny Taneja, Tarrant County’s Public Health director, said public health just wants to vaccinate anyone eligible with an appointment.
“Whether we go the essential worker route, or we go the age route, both are just different approaches to the same end,” Taneja said.
Regardless, the new phase that opened up will include essential workers as some will fit into the new category, he said.
If the state would have included essential workers, the minority populations, such as the Latino and Black communities, could’ve had greater access to the vaccine. More than half of all Black, Native American and Hispanic/Latino workers have jobs that must be done in person and close to others, compared to 41% of white workers, according to an Urban Institute Study. These populations are also more likely to live in multi-generational households.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said if it were up to him, everyone who wanted a vaccine could go and get one. He encourages everyone to register for the vaccine regardless of eligibility because more people will soon become eligible.
President Joe Biden said on March 11 that states needed open eligibility for everyone by May 1. But still, Haney felt he and other essential workers should’ve been on a priority group, not only for himself but for the greater population.
“My interest is not just in protecting myself, it’s in protecting all of my co-workers,” he said.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 12:07 PM.
