Efforts to give security guards higher vaccine priority are going nowhere, say union representatives
Author of the article: Adrian Humphreys
Publishing date: Apr 21, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 4 minute read • We are essentially at the front of the front line before you get into the hospital, into that store, that bank, nine times out of 10, there is security there, in the role of enforcement, crowd control, health and safety compliance, and engagement with crowds, says Paul Katerenchuk of security firm Synergy Protection. Photo by Getty Images
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Security guards are often the pointy end of the stick for COVID-19 control measures. They’re the ones monitoring for masks and distanced lineups at grocery stores and pharmacies, controlling access to care homes and hospitals, taking temperatures at front desks, even moving dead patients from morgues.
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Local 333 Secretary-treasurer Jeff Ketelaars said Premier Doug Ford recently announced that security guards would be placed in all long-term-care (LTC) homes to ensure compliance with public health rules.
Residents and staff at LTC homes are on the priority list for vaccination, he said.
“It makes no sense that the person guarding the front door wouldn’t also be on the same list,” Ketelaars said Friday.
UFCW believes all security guards should be on the vaccine priority list because they have been doing frontline work, he said.