Nearly four months after medical workers and nursing home residents began getting immunized against COVID-19, mail sorters, carriers and their colleagues are still not yet eligible for COVID-19 shots across much of the U.S.
Given their work on the frontlines of a deadly pandemic, the nearly half a million Americans employed by the U.S. Postal Service had reason to believe they’d be among those prioritized for getting vaccinated against the coronavirus. With more than 100 active postal workers having died from COVID-19 and tens of thousands having been infected by the diseases, the American Postal Workers Union has for months pushed for its members to be recognized as essential workers in the national vaccine rollout.
“Many essential workers are still waiting for their vaccines even as they report to work every day, including postal workers, who have continued to interact with the public and connect the people of the country during the pandemic,” the labor group stated in late January.