New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Lifting COVID restrictions concerns unvaccinated essential workers
At 31 years old, Dustin Amore has to wait at least a few more months before he can receive a COVID vaccine.
Amore, a bartender, said he already felt slighted by Gov. Ned Lamont’s new vaccine rollout that does not prioritize essential workers like himself and now he’s even more anxious with the state’s plan to open up restaurants to full capacity.
“March, April, May, without a vaccine and then more people — it sounds unsafe,” Amore said.
Lamont announced Thursday that capacity limits will be lifted at all restaurants, retail stores, personal services facilities, houses of worship, museums, aquariums, zoos, office buildings and other similar businesses starting March 19.
While mask wearing and social distancing requirements will remain in effect, Amore said the plan still creates some trepidation for food industry workers who have not been vaccinated.
“I think it’s going to cause a little bit of anxiety for workers in this industry, as well as for consumers, because they’re going to be walking into a place with less vaccination,” said Amore, who works at Conspiracy in Middletown.
Sal Luciano, president of Connecticut’s AFL-CIO that represents about 220,000 workers, including those in the restaurant and hotel industry, said “there’s mixed feelings out there” about the state’s reopening plan.
Luciano said workers felt it was a “slap in the face” to not be prioritized for the vaccine after assuming they were next in line.
Luciano said he’s also concerned about the impact the reopening plans will have on bus drivers.
Though COVID-19 protocols for buses, such as restricting people from using the front door, remain in place, Luciano is worried that could change. He’s also concerned about the impact lifting restrictions on restaurants and other businesses will have on bus ridership that will place drivers at higher risk.
“This puts them in greater danger, when they’re not in line to get the vaccine first,” he said.
Others concerned about the reopening plan include library employees. Helene Murtha, director of the Fairfield Public Library, said she was somewhat alarmed to hear that capacity limits are being lifted at library buildings.
“The vast majority of library staff (and patrons) are still not eligible for the vaccine, creating an unsafe workplace and public space,” Murtha said.
She pointed out that some facilities, including Plumb Memorial Library in Shelton and the Darien Library, have each had recent COVID outbreaks that forced the facilities to close. In the case of the Shelton library, officials said at least one death was linked to the outbreak.
A representative of one retail industry does not expect the governor’s order will greatly affect his members.
Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association — which represents roughly 240 food retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and service providers in the state — said he doesn’t expect the grocery industry to be greatly affected by the changes.
“I’m of the opinion that grocery stores will not be impacted by this ruling one way or the other,” Pesce said. “As long as food retailers don’t see the surges that they experienced at the start of the state lockdown, Connecticut grocery stores will individually make decisions on capacity limits. However, we don’t anticipate much change to our current consumer traffic due to this latest announcement.”
Allyson McCabe, who celebrated her 21st birthday in quarantine, said she wishes the state had waited until May to ease restrictions when everyone will be eligible for the vaccine.
As an assistant manager at a large Stop & Shop in Simsbury, McCabe does not expect eliminating the capacity limits on retail stores will put her in contact with more people. On a typical day, she said the store runs below capacity.
But she is worried eliminating caps at other businesses could lead to a spike in cases, and place frontline workers who are not yet vaccinated at higher risk.
“I think there will definitely be a spike,” she said. “I’m not happy about it.”