Transport workers should be placed on the “priority queue” after a survey found that every second person is not vaccinated, despite half of them working on hotspots, according to National Secretary of the Transport Workers Union Michael Kaine.
“This is a big survey of truck drivers, there are couriers, ridesharing, food delivery, bus drivers and of course they were some of the heroes of the pandemic,” he told Sky News Australia.
Mr. Kaine said working hours and fatigue rules make it difficult for transport workers to get access to the vaccine.
“You don’t have the luxury of just choosing and choosing,” he said.
“They have vaccination centers that are open from eight to four. Transport workers work around the clock.
“They have fatigue rules that they must adhere to and of course the vast majority of them are unfortunately employed or contracted in our modern economy.
“So vaccination when they don’t have paid vaccination leave means they have to make a decision about whether to feed their families or get the vaccine.
“So there are some barriers here that we need to break down and we need to get them on the priority queue as soon as possible.”