Waterloo Region opens vaccine pre-registration for second group of essential workers; construction included
Waterloo Region has opened a pre-registration program for COVID-19 vaccines for those workers that fall within the province’s second group of essential workers who cannot work from home. That group includes construction workers.
The province’s vaccination plan identified two groups of essential workers who cannot work from home; the first group has already been invited to pre-register for the vaccine.
The second group of essential workers can pre-register for the vaccine if they cannot work from home. It includes:
- Essential and critical retail workers, including grocery, foodbank and non-clinical pharmacy workers, ServiceOntario workers, ServiceCanada and Passport Canada workers, wholesalers and general goods, restaurant and LCBO workers
- Workers in manufacturing industries directly involved in supporting the COVID-19 response, construction including infrastructure, and other essential businesses and services where facilities are at heightened risk for COVID-19 outbreaks and spread
- Social workers and other social services staff providing in-person client services, including youth justice workers, OntarioWorks and Ontario Disability Support Program case workers
- Courts and justice system workers, including probation and parole workers
- Transportation, warehousing and distribution workers, including public transit workers, truck drivers supporting essential services, marine and rail cargo and maintenance, and highway maintenance
- Electricity, including workers employed in systems operations, generation, transmission, distribution and storage
- Communications infrastructure workers, including cellular, satellite, landline, internet and public safety radio
- Water and wastewater management workers
- Financial services workers (bank branch staff)
- Veterinarians and veterinary teams
- Waste management workers
- Oil and petroleum workers, including those working in petroleum refineries; those involved in the storage, transmission and distribution of crude oil and petroleum products; and those needed for the retail sale of fuel
- Natural gas and propane gas workers, including those working in the compression, storage, transmission and distribution of natural gas and propane
- Mine workers, including those needed to ensure the continued operation of active mines
- Uranium processing workers (those working in the refining and conversion of uranium, and fabrication of fuel for nuclear power plants
A release from the Region of Waterloo strongly encourages those who have been identified as essential workers who cannot work from home to pre-register now, and book their vaccine appointments as soon as they receive notifications to do so.
The fastest way to pre-register for the vaccine is on the Region of Waterloo's COVID-19 Vaccination Pre-registration website. The region advises that it may take as many as six weeks to be contacted for an appointment.