Capital Region Essential Workers Eligible for Grant Money
If you were deemed a Capital Region essential worker during the pandemic, there is a twenty-nine million-dollar grant program that could reimburse you to help with many sacrifices you have made. There are some requirements but you could be getting much-needed reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses.
No one has worked harder or longer hours than the essential workers in the Capital Region. We owe them more than just our gratitude and now there is a fund set up that will try and pay them back a portion for their expenses they endured during the pandemic.
The path forward for essential workers
The pandemic changed everything. What s next for gig workers and contractors?
Gig workers and warehouse workers have become essential in a pandemic-ravaged economy. In California, a law went into effect earlier this year that makes gig workers independent contractors. Meanwhile, Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are actively seeking to form a union to ensure better protections at the workplace.
At TC Sessions: Justice, I spoke with Gig Workers Collective co-founder and organizer Vanessa Bain, The Congress of Essential Workers founder and former Amazon warehouse worker Christian Smalls and National Council for Occupational Safety and Health Co-Executive Director Jessica E. Martinez about what’s next for gig workers and tech’s contractor workforce, and what battles lie ahead for these essential workers.
With each province setting its own rollout rules, groups representing teachers, police, dentists, grocery workers call dibs, while some experts argue age should be only consideration
Evers said the idea was that a separate site would prevent service issues because transit employees wouldn’t have to wait in line at one of the state’s mass vaccination sites.
“If the state is to put us in a big facility, like Gillette [Stadium], they can’t manage the disruption in service that it could cause,” he said. Starting next week, teachers will be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine but how will they be able to sign up with no available appointments in sight?
More than 300 transit workers have already caught COVID-19, and one died, Evers said.
Spectrum Health
The state of Michigan is expanding vaccine eligibility this month. On March 8, anyone over 50 with a medical condition or disability, plus anyone who acts as a caregiver for children with special needs, can sign up for an appointment. And later in the month, on March 22, all Michiganders aged 50 or older will be eligible.
The news comes one day after President Joe Biden announced a major boost in vaccine production nationwide. Biden says he expects enough vaccines to be produced for all American adults by the end of May. The Food and Drug Administration approved the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine last week.