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Restaurant Workers And Taxi Drivers Are Now Vaccine Eligible. Here's What We Know, So Far
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Feb 4, 2021
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Seth Wenig/AP/Shutterstock
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Feb 4, 2021
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New York state has offered local governments the option to expand vaccine access to restaurant workers and taxi drivers, and Mayor Bill de Blasio has indicated he’ll welcome the new groups into the eligibility pool.
In the coming weeks, localities can expect a 20% increase in doses to help cover the new swath of potential takers, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo. But this workforce encompasses groups with hundreds of thousands of workers, from line cooks to hostesses to food couriers to Uber drivers to bartenders.
We reached out to the governor’s office, the mayor, and health policy experts to figure out who counts as a restaurant worker, how they’ll prove their employment, and what gaps still exist in eligibility.
When does the new eligibility window open?
Depends on whom you ask.
Late Wednesday, Jack Sterne, a spokesperson for Governor Andrew Cuomo, told Gothamist/WNYC that vaccinations could begin February 8th, when additional doses begin to arrive to the state from the federal government.
The city’s website says restaurant workers and TLC drivers were added as of February 2nd.
You can find an appointment through the city and state websites, but proceed the caution, as they are imperfect. Mayor de Blasio announced Sunday that improvements to the city websites are coming to address vast racial disparities in who is getting the shots.
Wait, I thought Cuomo didn’t want to expand eligibility to these workers?
Yes. On Monday, Cuomo called the question of expanding eligibility a “cheap, insincere discussion,” when a reporter asked if restaurant workers would soon be able to get vaccinated given indoor dining returns at 25% capacity on Valentine’s Day. A day later, he changed his tune, citing the upcoming 20% increase in vaccine doses for local governments after a call with the White House.
He said restaurant workers, taxi drivers, and residents and staff in facilities for people with developmental disabilities could be added to phase 1b. Restaurant workers and taxi drivers make up an estimated 1 million people in New York City.
What did de Blasio say?
On Wednesday, the mayor welcomed increasing eligibility expansion—which builds on his concept of the “freedom to vaccinate.” He had urged a broader set of workers and older adults to be made eligible for the vaccine early in the rollout, and has repeatedly called on state and federal officials to permit the use of second doses held in reserve as first doses. He anticipates that enough supplies will arrive in the coming weeks to ensure everyone can get that second shot, and he is also banking on the authorization of the vaccine candidate made by Johnson & Johnson.
“It was clear to me that the folks that work in the restaurants deserve the right to be vaccinated,” de Blasio told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday. He indicated residents and staff at facilities for developmentally disabled people, taxi drivers, and for-hire vehicle drivers would be included.
“We want to reach more people,” de Blasio said. “These are all new Yorkers who deserve the right to be vaccinated.”
So who counts as a restaurant worker?
Cuomo’s spokesperson, Sterne, said that the state considers delivery staff as restaurant workers. With regards to kitchen employees and other backroom staff, he said it’s ultimately up to city and county officials to choose. Sterne said the state is working industry groups to build prioritization lists, and it recommends that localities do the same.
How do people prove their restaurant workers or taxi drivers? What about third-party app delivery services?
People who deliver food from restaurants are eligible even if they work for a third-party or a delivery app. They would have to show proof of employment with an employee ID card or badge, a letter from an employer or affiliated organization, a pay stub or similar document, according to state guidance.
What if that worker was laid off, furloughed, or works part-time?
This eligibility strategy centers risk of exposure to COVID-19, according to Sterne.
A recent study in California found line cooks in particular have a high mortality risk from COVID-19. Delivery workers have exposed themselves throughout the pandemic.
With that, the state’s approach centers around workers who are currently employed. And because of the chaotic working conditions the past year, an individual needs “recent evidence” of employment-based eligibility, he said.
Some fear these workers will still fall through the cracks if they can’t gather the necessary documents. When city officials were questioned about this at a press briefing on Wednesday, the city health department's chief equity officer, Dr. Torian Easterling, said: “We want to make sure that we minimize all barriers” and that the city recognizes many employees are “off the books.”
“We really need to make sure that there’s clear guidance to the employers about how to support their employees about being able to show proof of eligibility,” Easterling added.
Do you need to be a U.S. citizen?
No. City officials said at that press briefing people would not need to share immigration status or a social security number to be vaccinated.
Ok, so taxi drivers can get the shot. Does that include Uber and Lyft drivers?
Yes. At Tuesday’s press briefing, the governor said drivers for apps like Uber are included. The city’s eligibility website now includes drivers with a TLC-license through the Taxi & Limousine Commission. For-hire vehicles are TLC-licensed.
I checked the state eligibility guidance. Disabled adults in congregate settings could get the shot under phase 1a ever since the rollout began on December 14th. Why the delay for cities?
That’s correct. Staff and residents at adult care facilities under the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities were eligible for the vaccine in phase 1a.
The governor’s office said hospitals could previously vaccinate these groups. Now, local health departments can also vaccinate people with developmental disabilities in congregate care settings if they want. City health officials have not yet detailed plans for these groups, or if they were already vaccinating them through hospital vaccine programs.
Will this mean eligibility could differ between New York City and other counties?
Potentially. In an unusual move, Cuomo is letting localities lead on this one.
When coronavirus cases began rising again in NYC last fall, de Blasio put forth a plan to issue public health restrictions and lockdowns based on ZIP code. Cuomo didn’t like it, forcing de Blasio to shelve the idea and opt for Cuomo’s zoned micro-cluster restrictions—those color-coded maps that determine rules whether you could open your business or take your kids to school. That’s just one example in the power struggle between de Blasio and Cuomo going back to the beginning of the pandemic.
The governor has authority to determine vaccine allocations and the federal government issues recommendations, but this has been a challenge throughout the pandemic, according to Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, a professor of health policy and management at the City University of New York and the director of the group Public Health Computational and Operations Research
Supply shortages should be expected. Restaurant workers and taxi drivers include an estimated 1 million workers in the city, but only 1.3 million doses in total have been delivered to the city so far since mid-December.
“The trouble is, if you expand it too quickly, then it’s hard to go back and say, ‘Oh, we need to pull back doses,’” Lee said. “We really need to be strategic about this and make sure the right people are protected first.”
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COVID-19
coronavirus
Sydney Pereira
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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