The hospitality industry wants priority for vaccination
Do you remember that wonderful time when we could simply go to the hospitality industry? For a coffee, spontaneous drinks, an elaborate dinner… My God, I miss that so much! Of course, we had a small revival this summer; we could go to restaurants and cafés again, but it still didn’t feel quite the same – at least not to me. Open until 10 p.m., no new guests after 9 p.m…. The spontaneity was also somewhat gone, with a maximum number of people allowed at each table. And DIY stores and casinos open? I really don’t think it’s all that fair…
Fair or not, the fact is that for me (living alone in Amsterdam), a major social thing has disappeared. On top of that, I simply really love spending my money in the hospitality industry.
Is the coronavirus vaccine the solution for the hospitality industry?
Particularly good news last week about the coronavirus vaccines, which are said to be 95% effective. Could this be the salvation? And who gets the first vaccines, after high-risk groups and people in vital professions? The hospitality industry, then! At least, if it were up to the hospitality industry itself. Koninklijk Horeca Nederland (KHN) has spoken out about this, and the industry organisation believes that it should be third in line. After all, they have taken the hardest hit during the coronavirus crisis.
‘We have been hit the hardest’
‘Of course, not everyone can work from home, and hospitality workers certainly can’t. KHN would therefore like to see hospitality workers gain quick access to vaccination,’ said the spokesperson for Koninklijk Horeca Nederland. ‘It isn’t unreasonable to give the hospitality industry some form of priority, since the sector has quite simply been hit the hardest this year.’
It cannot be made mandatory
I am very curious to hear your opinions on this. I understand Koninklijk Horeca Nederland’s reasoning, but I don’t quite understand how feasible this would be. Mandatory vaccination for hospitality workers is not possible, as it would infringe Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights: the right to private life, and in particular physical integrity. Incidentally, it is also prohibited to require your employees to take a coronavirus test or undergo a temperature check. But all right, suppose they were all vaccinated in the hospitality industry… to operate as a hospitality business, you still need guests. And those guests would not be vaccinated. Would they then also get priority?
And if the whole idea is that hospitality workers would not pose a risk of infection, I don’t think they will manage to secure that priority. Because all the people who then come inside – whether or not they are one and a half metres apart – could still infect one another. A difficult issue, so please let me know what you think about it! I’m curious.
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