Truck stops aren’t the first place you think of when you imagine a clean, sterile environment. Even food trucks have faced legal obstacles to get clearance to serve meals at rest stops.
On the other hand, truck drivers are essential workers who need vaccines, and one easy place to administer those vaccines would be a truck stop. Should truck stops become vaccination sites?
Cons of Issuing Vaccines at Truck Stops
A bacteria-free environment is necessary when administering vaccines or doing other injections. If vaccines are given in unclean environments, patients could get infections or worse. This problem would only be compounded with truck drivers because the driver would be driving down the road, possibly in another state, by the time any adverse reaction to the vaccine occurred.
Some vaccines also require cold storage that may be unavailable at truck stops. And in today’s world, theft of vaccines is also an issue, with truck stops being an easy target.
Pros of Vaccination Distribution at Truck Stops
Truck drivers have been putting their health and safety at risk in the past year to keep our economy running. The argument for issuing vaccines as truck stops is an obvious one – make it easy as possible for these essential workers to innoculate themselves from the virus.
At some point along the haul, over-the-road truck drivers are likely going to roll through a major truck stop. By turning major stops into vaccination sites, truck drivers can protect themselves, their family, and those they come into contact with, all while fueling up.
In addition, drivers getting vaccines at truck stops also reduces the traffic (so to speak) at other popular vaccination sites. And the logistics of having a driver able to get one dose in one state and the second dose in a second state could be a benefit to areas that struggle to provide two full doses because of limited supply.
The following companies issued a letter to the CDC encouraging them to approve of vaccine issuance at truck stops.
- NATSO
- American Trucking Associations (ATA)
- Truckload Carriers Association
- National Private Truck Council
- National Association of Small Trucking Companies
- St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund
- Tank Truck Carriers
According to the letter “We cannot expect drivers—some of whom are actively transporting the vaccine—to return to their home domicile in order to receive the vaccine. Removing the red tape and using truckstops and travel plazas as mobile distribution sites exclusively for our industry will assist in making the vaccine available for those who choose to receive it.”
To read the letter in full, go here.