Maryland cannabis staffers get same COVID-19 vaccine status as health-care workers

Cannabis employees in Maryland will be placed at the top of the list, alongside health-care providers, for receiving the state’s first wave of COVID-19 vaccinations.

That status further confirms the “essential” designation that cannabis businesses and their workers received when the coronavirus pandemic began.

According to the Baltimore Business Journal, the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission alerted the more than 130 licensed cannabis companies across all sectors that their employees will be eligible for Phase 1A of the state’s tiered vaccine distribution plan.

The state health department issued directives stating that registered employees at medical cannabis dispensaries, labs, cultivation sites and processing sites are “registered health care providers.”

A representative of SunMed Growers told the Baltimore Business Journal that employees at the Cecil County-based company have begun signing up for the vaccine, with some set to receive their first dose by week’s end.