A petition that calls on the government to include public transport workers among priority groups for vaccination against COVID-19 is gaining support with the help of tech provider uTrack.
The company has voiced its concern that no action has been taken by the government to protect transport workers, despite frontline key workers and priority groups being in line to receive vaccinations before others.
“With the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, many frontline key workers and priority groups are receiving the vaccine first,” the company says.
“However, despite many transport operators and drivers still providing essential services through the pandemic, there has been no action from the government to protect public transport workers by identifying them as a priority group when rolling out the vaccine to key workers.”
Figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on 25 January show that a total of 83 deaths of coach and bus drivers in England and Wales have been related to COVID-19. That caused the RMT union to also call for public transport workers to be classified as a priority group for vaccination, a step it says will “save lives and maintain the resilience of the UK’s transport network.”
uTrack has asked routeone readers to join the cause and sign the petition below. It has already passed the 10,000 signatures required for a government response.
