LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12 (Reuters) – About 800 workers from the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports will be on Friday at the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines for employees at the busiest port complex in the United States, which has been hit hard pandemic-related workforce disruptions and increased imports.
Last month, members of Congress joined state and local leaders to urge California officials to accelerate COVID-19 vaccinations for port workers amid major battles over which workers should be prioritized as essential.
These decisions are sometimes made at the local level, which has led to a patchwork of rules for vaccination eligibility at a time when the demand for COVID-19 vaccines far outstrips the supply.
The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services organized the clinic, which reserved 800 doses of Moderna Inc vaccine for port workers. The event comes at a time when mass inoculation sites in other parts of Los Angeles County – including Dodger Stadium – are temporarily closed due to a lack of vaccine supplies.
Meanwhile, some states are beginning to expand vaccination beyond rescuers, health professionals and the elderly, to supermarket clerks, cooks, bus drivers and teachers.
In the state of New York, grocery and restaurant workers can take pictures. And in Illinois, some auto factory workers started getting vaccines. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; edited by Jonathan Oatis)