The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association has announced that SDA members who are essential frontline workers at Woolworths, ALDI, Coles and Metcash sites in the five LGA areas of south west Sydney and western Sydney have gained priority access to Pfizer vaccines.
“The union congratulates the retailers on securing this priority access to Pfizer vaccines for essential workers in these supermarkets, online retail centres and warehouses,” SDA NSW Secretary Bernie Smith said in a statement.
The SDA has been calling for priority access to vaccines for essential shop, online and warehouse workers for months, the union said.
“This is a significant breakthrough in protecting the health of frontline retail workers ensuring the community retains access to the essentials of life during the protracted lockdown in Australia’s biggest city,” Mr Smith said.
“The Commonwealth and State Governments must now recognise the essential work of all supermarket and warehouse workers. They have done an incredible job on the frontline of the pandemic, working day in and day out to keep up an essential service.
“All supermarket, petrol station and warehouse workers must get priority access to age-appropriate vaccines. We’ve seen how transmissible the Delta variant is, and how many retail outlets have been visited by Covid-19 infected shoppers in NSW.
“If vaccine supply is still tight, the SDA calls on the NSW Government to offer first priority to all supermarket and warehouse workers living and working in the five locked down LGAs for age-appropriate vaccines. But then all supermarket and warehouse workers must get priority access as soon as possible,” Mr Smith concluded.