Orange County Transportation Authority urges state to place transit workers in second vaccine tier

Orange County’s transit authority is calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to prioritize transit workers as the state rolls out COVID-19 vaccinations.

The agency considers its employees essential, frontline workers.

“Transportation is vital for our community, for all the essential workers, for the public’s ability to access healthcare, buy food, or get to school, and because of this we join with agencies throughout California in requesting that OCTA’s frontline workers receive the vaccine as early as possible,” Darrell E. Johnson, chief executive of the Orange County Transportation Authority, said in a news release.

OCTA officials praised a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee for recommending Sunday that bus drivers, rail operators and other transit workers receive priority for inoculations nationwide.

In California, medical workers and nursing home residents are at the front of the line. They are part of what state labels Phase 1A.

On Sunday, the CDC committee voted to place transit and other frontline essential workers in Phase 1B, the second priority tier. California has placed senior citizens ages 65 and up in Tier 1B, as well as essential workers, but not all of the jobs in that category have been publicly defined.

OCTA and other transit agencies statewide have joined in urging the state to consider public transportation employees frontline workers.

“Public transportation has proven to be a daily lifeline for thousands of essential workers in our community, throughout the state and nationwide and we thank the CDC for this recommendation to help ensure the health of all the men and women who are safely operating our transit systems,” OCTA Chairman Steve Jones said in the news release.

“As we experience the most difficult days of the pandemic, but with hope on the horizon, we respectfully ask the state to do all it can to protect the employees who keep Orange County and the rest of California moving,” he said.

OCTA is taking steps to keep the public transportation system as safe as possible, according to officials.

Buses are cleaned daily and there are on-board hand sanitizing and face-covering dispensers.

Passenger loads are limited to ensure social distancing and drivers are protected by plexiglass.

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