Metro Vancouver HandyDART drivers ‘horrified’ to be left off vaccine priority list

The union representing Metro Vancouver’s HandyDART drivers says it is “horrified” they’ve been left off B.C.’s priority vaccination schedule.

The province announced Thursday that it would use its limited supply of AstraZeneca/SII COVIDSHIELD vaccine for priority front-line workers, including education and childcare workers and first responders.

Transit workers, including those who drive the HandyDART shuttles that transport elderly seniors, persons with disabilities and others with mobility issues, were not included in the priority group.

“This is not a job where there is the privilege of the availability of social distancing. We are in very close proximity with our clients — each and every client — each and every time,” Mark Beeching, president of ATU Local 1724, told Global News.

“We have to assist them with putting on securement, like seatbelts, they have to tie down wheelchair when they ride the lift up and down with the client, they are right beside them, touching.”

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Beeching said the union’s estimated 600 drivers recognized that residents in long-term care and other at-risk groups needed to be prioritized in the vaccine rollout. But now that vaccine is being used for other groups, he said he can’t understand why they aren’t at the front of the line.

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That’s both because the drivers and their often frail clients are at risk, he said, but also because they could end up being key links in COVID-19 transmission.

“I would hope that the government would realize that because of the proximity we have with our clients and the nature of the fact we go to and from medical facilities that are at the highest level of risk, that we would be put at priority simply to stem the spread and the cycle of this vicious disease.”

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said its list of priority workers was developed based on “science and the input of a number of national and provincial groups,” including the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, and the BC Immunization Committee.

Priority was given in workplaces where using personal protective equipment was challenging, outbreaks and clusters had been identified, workers worked or lived in close quarters, and keeping the workforce for a critical service was necessary, it said.

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“We will be reviewing our frontline worker list based on the latest available data and as we get a confirmation of the amount of vaccine supply B.C. will be receiving over the coming weeks and months,” the ministry said.

“Everyone is important and everyone will have their turn.”

If vaccine deliveries arrive as scheduled, all British Columbians are forecast to get their first shot earlier than expected, due to the province’s decision to extend the gap between first and second doses to four months.

But that answer isn’t good enough for Beeching, who argues his members are delivering a critical service.

“We are horrified that the provincial government doesn’t recognize the level of risk we face every single day,” he said.

“People are going home to their families and living in fear.”