San Diego Restaurant Workers Can Start Getting COVID-19 Vaccines on February 27

As vaccine supplies increase, officials in San Diego announced on Wednesday, February 24, that the county is moving into the next stage in its vaccination plan, which means that local restaurant workers will be eligible to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine starting this Saturday, February 27.

Restaurant servers and staff, as well as others on the frontlines of the food and agriculture sector including grocery clerks and farm workers are now able to be vaccinated along with people working within emergency services, child care, and education that fall under Tier 1, Phase 1B.

CAL FIRE and Operation Collaboration will be leading the effort to vaccinate farm workers in fields and rural locations while all others in the food and agriculture sector can sign up for appointments online — though everyone may not be able to get an appointment right away.

At the news conference on Wednesday, February 24, Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said this group is comprised of about 500,000 San Diegans and cautioned, “There will not be half a million appointments available Saturday or Sunday or Monday or for many weeks coming forward.”

San Diego County is still in the purple tier, with restaurants limited to outdoor dining, but metrics indicate that the county may be able to move into the red tier within the next few weeks. That means that restaurants could restart indoor dining at 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer. With restaurant workers particularly vulnerable if indoor dining is reinstated, the state has begun to prioritize people working in food service for COVID vaccinations. San Francisco restaurant workers became eligible for their first dose on Wednesday, February 24 while in LA County they could be able to be vaccinated by late February or early March.

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