I’m an essential worker and I still can’t get a vaccine. When is it our turn? | Opinion

Essential. This is a word that many have heard in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our health-care heroes have worked tirelessly in the battle against COVID-19 on the front lines at hospitals, nursing homes, and community clinics.

These workers have saved many lives and keep communities safe. They truly have endured hardship for access to vaccines for their health and safety, and that of their patients and families.

As workers in the food processing and packinghouse industry, we’re also on the front lines. We may not be visible, but every day we help feed Pennsylvanians. We make sure that our grocery stores are stocked. We process and package the food that sits on dining room tables. We work hard each day to keep the food supply chain alive and well in our state and nation.

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As members of UFCW Local 1776, we are among the over 20,000 grocery store and pharmacy workers, and the 10,000 food processing workers, that our local union represents across the state. We have seen many of our coworkers fall ill or, in some instances, die from COVID-19.

Their memories are not lost, and we keep their families in our prayers. Still, despite the risks, our fellow members continue to come to work every day to ensure that food is being produced for our communities.

Thankfully, help is on the way. We have urged Gov. Tom Wolf and his acting health secretary to take the appropriate measures to make sure that food processing and packinghouse workers are prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccine. This past Friday, he announced that essential workers like us will be included in the next round of vaccinations in the commonwealth.

But we need help to make that promise reality. We need to continue making vaccine access universal and simple to understand, given that many of the people who work in food processing and packinghouses speak a language other than English.

We know more vaccine doses are coming soon. The commonwealth should expedite this process, including actively contacting and preregistering essential workers like ourselves and our coworkers, and our employers that want to aid in this process with on-site or near-site clinics.

Now is the time to make sure that essential workers are being invited to register for vaccination appointments as soon as they become available.

We have been very successful in working with employers across our union to enhance safety measures and protocols at our worksites, including our own. We have worked hard, as have the vast majority of employers, to secure personal protective equipment for workers and institute important safety protocols to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. At many worksites, it was necessary to make significant changes to production areas to help prevent the spread of this deadly virus to allow for proper social distancing.

The governor was right to classify grocery stores, pharmacies, and food processing/packinghouses as lifesaving businesses. But these businesses cannot remain open without the very workers, like ourselves, that keep them operating.

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We know from our own experiences that our fellow workers are taking an enormous risk every day. A January study by the University of Pennsylvania confirms what we already know about our work: that essential workers have a 55% higher chance of contracting COVID-19 than members of the general public. The study also found that our family members have a 17% higher chance of contracting the virus.

Now, because of the work of so many scientists and researchers, we can see a light at the end of this dark tunnel. Our nation developed and purchased millions of COVID vaccines for distribution. Yet we are still waiting for this important resource to protect essential workers like ourselves.

Let’s work together to make sure that vaccines are available widely and are as convenient as possible for essential workers like us. On-site vaccination clinics are the best way to ensure that workers in industries like ours are vaccinated safely and quickly.

We take pride in nourishing our country by benefiting our communities. We are proud to hold good-paying jobs that benefit all Pennsylvanians and our local economies. We are painfully aware of the fact that COVID-19 is still a threat. This virus continues to wreak havoc in our communities and among our coworkers and their families.

For the sake of ourselves, our families, and our communities, we need to have expedited access to COVID-19 vaccines now.

Dairyn Ortiz works at JBS Souderton in Montgomery County and Yecika Ramirez works at Cargill Meat Solutions in Hazleton, Luzerne County.