NWRA was represented by John Skoutelas of member company Waste Management at the most recent meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). ACIP has been meeting regularly to advise on the prioritization of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution. 鈥淚 appreciate John, Cara Simaga from Stericycle and Shawn Mandel from Waste Connections for helping us prepare for the meeting,鈥� said NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith. 鈥淪ince early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been engaged with federal and state agencies, working to ensure our member companies had the resources they needed to ensure waste collection continued.鈥�
NWRA had previously sent a聽letter聽to the CDC urging the agency to accept the recommendation of the ACIP. The ACIP recommended that essential workers, as identified by the Department of 国产麻豆land Security (DHS), should receive a COVID-19 vaccine after healthcare workers. Waste collection workers are classified as essential workers.
During this national emergency, at the request of NWRA, DHS鈥檚 Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Administration classified waste collection workers as 鈥渆ssential鈥� under five different 鈥淓ssential Critical Infrastructure Workers鈥� categories. Waste and Recycling workers were placed on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine鈥檚聽COVID-19 vaccine priority list聽in response to a request from the Association.