Grocery stores have been proven to be vital during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they have had to make some major changes to how they operate during these times. 

Some people may argue that grocery store workers deserve the vaccine sooner because they work around so many people., because they are vital to helping people get the food they need. In an interview with a local Safeway employee, Olivia Joslyn who has worked at that Safeway for six and a half months gave her thoughts on the vaccine rollout and change in hours.

 “My hours have increased a lot and I have gotten a lot of overtime,” Joslyn said. “I am signed up to get the vaccine through Safeway in the near future. I think I should get the vaccine before most people because I come in contact with hundreds of people a day and not only would it protect me it would protect all of the people I come in contact with each day.”

There are three main phases for the vaccine, phase 1a which gives vaccine access to healthcare personnel, phase 1b which is touched on below, and phase 1c which includes people aged 65-74 years and people aged 16-64 years with underlying medical conditions . 

Grocery store workers are in phase 1b to get the vaccine along with these workers according to the CDC website discussing the vaccine rollout. 

 “Fire fighters, police officers, corrections officers, food and agricultural workers, United States Postal Service workers, manufacturing workers… public transit workers, and those who work in the educational sector,” The CDC website said.

Joslyn also mentioned the changes Safeway has had to make to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

“We cannot bag groceries for customers with reusable bags, we must clean our check stands every two hours, we have to get our temperature checked before each shift,” Joslyn said. “And during the peak of covid we had to limit items per customer…each customer was only allowed two packages of disinfecting wipes.”

On Safeway’s website, they discuss the vaccine, its price and how soon it is coming to their stores. 

“We are currently immunizing based on state and local health department direction,” Safeway’s website said. “Immunizations will be available at no costs to patients.”

Grocery stores are very important to our lives, and following state mandated guidelines will help everyone to keep safe and allow more people to have access to groceries at the same time.