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Coronavirus: Supermarkets want staff to be vaccinated as priority

covid vaccination

The Pancyprian Supermarkets Association on Tuesday urged the health ministry to proceed with immediate coronavirus vaccinations of supermarket employees.

The employees have been at the forefront of the pandemic from the start and are in constant contact with people, the association said.

Thus, they should be given priority and should be vaccinated without further delay.

“This will be a very important weapon in stopping the pandemic and will greatly reduce the risk of the virus spreading,” it said.

“Unfortunately, we have to mention that we have contacted the responsible ministry since January and called on it to vaccinate the frontline workers in our sector, since they are in daily contact with the general population, by letters both to the director of medical services but also to the minister himself, presenting our readiness to coordinate the actions.”

Sadly even now, four months later, there has been no reply, the statement concluded, expressing the hope this time the ministry will respond.

In other countries, the situation is very different. For months, employers in the US have used cash rewards to entice supermarket employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

Supermarket employees in New York State have been given essential worker status, Deutsche Welle announced on February 17.

“That means they can get vaccinated fast, and their employers are organising the appointments for them,” the broadcaster wrote.

Germany is catching up with the trend to get the employees vaccinated as soon as possible.

The Hamburg-based supermarket chain Edeka Nord will offer a €50 gift card for its shops as a bonus to employees who get vaccinated for Covid-19, the German retailer’s website, lebensmittelzeitung.net, reported on April 14.

 

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