Child care workers should be prioritized for COVID vaccines, lawmakers tell Gavin Newsom

As he holes up in a room in his house, quarantining from the rest of his family after a potential COVID-19 exposure, Gov. Gavin Newsom joked that he feels like a “full-time red carpet concierge” for people who want to know when they can get a coronavirus vaccine.

“Everyone that does have access to my direct email and my text messages, asking about their aunt or uncle, about a friend or family member, when are they going to be in the queue, when are they going to get the opportunity to be vaccinated,” Newsom said during a press conference on Monday. “I’ll remind them, as I remind you ... that we have a public process for vaccinations.”

The Democratic governor has tasked a group of experts with assessing who should be in line after medical workers and nursing home residents get their shots.

Among those reaching out to Newsom with suggestions are 21 Democratic lawmakers from the state Senate and Assembly who argued, in a letter to the governor, that child care providers and early childhood educators should have priority access to the vaccine.

The letter pointed out that California’s child care facilities and home daycares care for nearly a million children statewide.

“These providers, who run approximately 34,000 licensed child care facilities and employ about 120,000 teachers and staff, are mostly women of color who earn poverty-level wages for work that is critical for a young child’s development and safety,” the lawmakers wrote.

Working mothers are predominantly the ones who sacrifice their careers when childcare isn’t an option, they say.

“In addition, many of the low-paid workforces hurt the most by this recession with the least chance of recovering quickly — restaurants, retail and hospitality, to name a few — rely on a workforce composed predominantly of women and women of color,” they wrote. “With fewer child care options available, these workers will likely struggle to return to work.”

The lawmakers pointed out that Newsom, who has four children of his own, has been a champion for child care providers and early childhood education in the past.

“We now hope that you will build on this track record by ensuring timely access to the COVID-19 vaccine for the workforce that has held us all together, and will continue to hold us all together, during this deadly pandemic,” they wrote.

This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 5:00 AM.