With two vaccines being administered and a third expected soon, the queue is forming for who gets the shots when, and food & beverage workers may be near the front of the second line.
With healthcare workers already getting the first round of shots, the Centers for Disease Control on Sunday recommended that adults over 75 and "frontline essential workers" including first responders be next in line to receive Covid-19 vaccines.
The CDC called that group "Phase 1b." That group includes "those who work in food and agriculture, those in manufacturing," as well as first responders, people in the education sector, corrections workers, US postal service workers, public transit workers and grocery store workers, according to CNN.
Those are the health agency's recommendations; some discretion is left to the states on how to implement the vaccination program.
Geoff Freeman, president/CEO of the Consumer Brands Assn., thanked the CDC and said, "The consumer packaged goods industry's 1.7 million essential workers have been there since the beginning of the pandemic, making sure that Americans have the life-sustaining products they need -- from hand sanitizer and disinfectants to food and beverages. The industry is grateful for the CDC's recognition of the critical role they play by prioritizing them for vaccinations in phase 1b.
"As we head into the throes of winter, our industry's essential manufacturing workers must be vaccinated to ensure shelves are stocked and Americans can continue to stay home and stay safe as the country turns the corner on this life-altering pandemic."
