SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio organization is coordinating a COVID-19 pop-up vaccine clinic to help inoculate service industry workers in our area.
Hundreds of locals working in the service industry will be getting the Pfizer vaccine thanks to the nonprofit Heard, which is dedicated to workers’ wellbeing in the food and beverage industry.
“A lot of (the workers) don’t have health insurance or access to health insurance or limited access to health care, and so providing them with something that will help them and allow them to continue to do their job and not get sick is vital,” said Joel Rivas, CEO and founder of Saint City Culinary Foundation.
The event is reservation only, and it’s taking place at the Burleson Yard Beer Garden.
“We’re a tourist city, so the population of those working in the industry is large,” Rivas said.
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According to the Texas Restaurant Association, before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were about 115,000 hospitality workers in Bexar County.
Luis Colon, chef and co-owner of J’Dubs Burgers and Grub, is looking forward to getting the COVID-19 vaccine tomorrow.
“We still have to protect ourselves and our family. We don’t have a drive-thru. We don’t have things like that where we can separate from people. We actually have to interact and be within those six feet, so it’s difficult,” Colon said.
Rivas said the organization is hoping to vaccinate about 350 people tomorrow.
The Texas Restaurant Association is also hosting a vaccine clinic in San Antonio later this month. That clinic will take place from 8 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. between April 27-28 at the Wonderland of the Americas shopping center. University Health System will administer 6,000 doses (3,000 per day) of the Pfizer vaccine. For more information, visit TXHospitalityVaccines.com.