Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon is working to determine how many restaurant workers in the county want the COVID-19 vaccine, and make it easier for them to get it once they become eligible.
McMahon asked a local restaurant consultant to create a list of restaurant workers within Onondaga County. The consultant, Restaurant QB President Bud Luora, said the county will use the list to preregister restaurant workers, allowing them to skip the often-criticized online registration process.
“This way the data is already in, and we can just pull from it on a weekly basis,” Luora said.
In recent weeks, Luora, who has consulted with CNY restaurants throughout the pandemic, reached out to more than 125 restaurants in the Syracuse area.
The decision to make restaurant workers eligible for the vaccine is up to Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon. Last week, McMahon said they weren’t ready to make restaurant workers eligible because they still don’t have enough vaccine for everyone who is eligible now.
“The last thing I need to do is make a bad situation worse,” McMahon said.
The county needs more time and data before they can make the vaccine eligible to restaurant workers, McMahon said. The list of restaurant workers will help give them the data they need.
Restaurants serve as one of a very few public places where people it’s acceptable to take off a mask, since it’s impossible to eat with one on.
“It’s definitely a little stressful at times,” said Seamus Mahar, an employee at the Varsity, a Pizza and Sandwich spot just off Syracuse University’s campus. Mahar works to clean tables as well as deliver food to two hospitals which are just a block away.
“I always have that thought in the back of my mind, I’m around a lot of people all day.”
Mahar wishes he could get the vaccine to put him at a greater peace of mind, he said.
For customers, having all employees vaccinated will reinforce the idea that restaurants are a safe place to dine out and pick up food, Luora said.
Loura said McMahon indicated that restaurant workers could start to see their vaccines come in early March.
