Amazon has told the CDC that its workers should receive the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. In a letter to Dr. Jose R. Romero, chairman of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon said, “As the nation’s second largest employer, Amazon employs 800,000 employees in the United States. We are proud of the role that our essential employees have played this year to help our customers stay safe and receive important products at their home.”
Clark continued, “We request that ACIP continue to prioritize these essential workers who cannot work from home, like those working at Amazon fulfillment centers, AWS data centers, and Whole Foods Market stores, to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the earliest appropriate time.”
The National Retail Federation is also advocating for the retail workforce to be included among the early recipient groups for the vaccine. In a statement, NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said, “Today, NRF submitted a letter to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC in favor of including the retail workforce among those with access to the COVID-19 vaccines during the early stages of its distribution. It is critically important those working in our nation’s stores, distribution centers, warehouses and throughout the retail ecosystem are among the early recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine. The retail industry directly employs 32 million Americans, and we cannot lose sight of the importance of keeping them and the consumers they serve safe from this deadly disease.”
