COVID-19 vaccine could be available to truckers in early 2021

A vaccine for COVID-19 may not be too far away, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has been working behind the scenes to make sure that truck drivers are near the top of the list of essential workers.

Doug Morris, OOIDA’s director of safety and security operations, told Land Line Now that the Association has been in talks with the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Homeland Security about the vaccine rollout. The plan will likely use a four-phase rollout recommended by the National Academy of Medicine.

The first phase of the plan will first get the vaccines to high-risk health workers and first responders along with higher-risk people with underlying conditions. Morris said truckers will likely be included in Phase 2 – a group that includes school teachers and critical workers who are in industries essential to the functioning of society and at substantially high risk of exposure.

The vaccines have still not been approved, so no specific dates for rollouts have been set. However, Morris said it’s possible that vaccines could be available by the end of the year, and truck drivers could have the ability to receive a vaccine by late January or early February. LL