Local front-line workers disappointed by change
NEW FAIRFIELD — Mark Dahl will be one of the first of his co-workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The 60-year-old head meat cutter at the Stop & Shop in New Fairfield will be eligible for the vaccine beginning March 1.
But many of his co-workers — especially the cashiers who come into contact with the most people — are younger and will need to wait.
He and other front-line workers said Tuesday they are disappointed the state will not prioritize them for the vaccine. The state announced Monday that residents will become eligible for the vaccine based on age.
“Whether they’re in their 20s or 40s shouldn’t really matter,” said Dahl, who is the shop steward for Local 371 UFCW and sits on the union’s executive board. “We’re out there exposed to everybody every single day. We should be next in line to get the vaccine.”
Educators are the exception and will be eligible for the vaccine beginning March 1.
“We should be like the teachers,” Dahl said. “We’re just as involved, in fact, more so. Teachers have a class every day, but it’s pretty much the same people. We see different people every day.”
Juan Alvarez, a sanitation driver for Oak Ridge Waste & Recycling, said it is not fair
that front-line workers will need to wait.
His job brings him COVID-19 risks the vaccine could help protect him from, he said. The 44year-old services the Danbury area, including picking up trash at Danbury Hospital.
“We don’t know what’s in the garbage,” said Alvarez, a member of the International Union of Journeymen and Allied Trades Local 726. “We wear the mask. We wear the gloves, but in the meantime, we don’t know what we’re bringing home.”
When getting home from work, he used to change clothes in his garage and shower before interacting with his three kids, 10, 8 and 2. He has not gotten sick or been exposed to the virus yet, he said.
Dahl has not gotten the virus or been exposed, but his co-workers
have been sick or quarantined.
The past year has been draining as an essential worker, said Dahl, who was worked for Stop & Shop for 35 years and in the New Fairfield store for about 10 years. He has seen his mother, who is in her 90s and was recently vaccinated, very little.
“It’s a lot on us,” Dahl said. “A lot of us, it’s on our minds. It’s a lot to deal with.”
It would take some of that pressure off to know the vaccine could prevent him from getting the virus or, at least, being hospitalized because of it, he said.
“It’s just like a big sigh of relief for all of us to get the vaccine,” Dahl said.
“Some people have the option to work from home,” he added. “We don’t. We have to go to work every day and so, at least if we have to be at work every day, once the protection is available, we should be up on the top of that list.”