More than 30 state lawmakers this week, in a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, urged him to expand vaccine eligibility to include food pantry, food bank, and grab-and-go staffers and volunteers in New York.

The push for expanded vaccine eligibility for workers and volunteers who provide food and nutritional support comes amid a growing hunger crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recession.

“With exploding unemployment and homelessness in New York, the number of food insecure New Yorkers has skyrocketed," said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal. "Without the dedication and commitment of staff and volunteers at New York’s food banks, pantries, and grab-and-go sites, countless New York families would go hungry. Food pantry staff have been risking their health and that of their families to make sure that hungry New Yorkers can feed their families, and it is vital that we immediately prioritize them for the vaccine.”

Several Capital Region lawmakers earlier this month made a similar appeal to Cuomo for food pantry workers. Volunteers and staff of food pantries located in homeless shelters are eligible for the vaccine. But the much broader swath of workers outside of homeless shelters are not.

Food pantry and food bank workers have been deemed essential workers, but were not included under the vaccinations of phase 1B.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, community members in Jackson Heights mobilized quickly to build a food pantry, the Love Wins Food Pantry. It is still operating today, and I do my best to go regularly to volunteer, as I did when it first began to operate,” said Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas.

“The volunteers at Love Wins, like the staff and volunteers at food pantries, food banks, and grab-and-go sites all around the state are working hard to address food insecurity in some of our most vulnerable communities. They put themselves at risk each time they serve knowing that they do so to feed our neighbors. We must include these individuals in phase 1B of the vaccine distribution plan.”

The problem facing New York and other states has been demand, far outstripping supply of the vaccine. The state receives about 300,000 doses a week of the vaccine, and roughly 10 million New Yorkers are now eligible to schedule an appointment.

The state is opening a range of mass vaccination and pop-up locations in the coming days.