A coalition of cannabis businesses is asking California policymakers to specifically include cannabis workers in the next phase of COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Cannabis companies have been deemed essential services throughout the pandemic, and the group argues that there are unique risks in the industry because workers frequently interact with patients who might be more vulnerable to the virus because they are immune compromised or elderly.
Like grocery workers and other people eligible for vaccination in Phase 1B, they say those employed in the cannabis sector should be next in line.
“Over the course of the last nine months, industry workers have been providing essential medicine to thousands of Californians every day,” the coalition of more than 20 cannabis firms wrote in a letter to the California Department of Public Health’s Community Vaccine Advisory Committee. “Despite numerous health and safety measure instituted at great expense by employers, this work has been done with inherent risk.”
Read more at marijuanamoment.net