We suffered an 85% drop in demand during the strict lockdown in 2020. Given that roadside assistance is essential, we are asking to be included in the third vaccination group.
A year of pandemic. March marked one year since the coronavirus entered our lives and turned them, quite literally, upside down. At REAC we have been through several stages, one of the most critical being when we joined the National Federation of Roadside Assistance Employers (FEGRUAL) in drawing up proposals to save as many companies as possible in our sector, roadside assistance, from bankruptcy.
Demand fell by 85% in spring 2020, during the strict lockdown, with the economy at a complete standstill. It was then that REAC called for roadside assistance operators to be recognised as essential workers. Demand for roadside assistance companies might fall drastically... but the activity could not possibly stop. We needed support.
Vaccination campaigns
Now we are in another phase. It is the turn of the vaccination campaign, which is already under way. For this reason, on 10 February REAC and AGREGA GRÚAS contacted the Directorate-General for Traffic (Ministry of the Interior), as well as the Directorate-General for Land Transport (Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda).
As representatives of a large part of the most organised section of the sector (more than 10,000 employees), we conveyed to these bodies the need to be included in the third vaccination group established by the Ministry of Health, within the 2021 Vaccination Strategy drawn up by the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS).
Unfortunately, the only response we have received so far has come via the Castile and León association (ASCALEAC), chaired by Beatriz Rodríguez Alba, of Grúas Ávila. The Services Coordination of the Directorate-General for Public Health of the Regional Government of Castile and León wrote to this REAC association, stating that the vaccination strategy is approved by the aforementioned CISNS. The priority of the groups is established, they explain, "on the basis of ethical criteria and scientific evidence". To date, our group has not been included as a risk group.
Essential (and committed)
We agreed to send this statement requesting that our operators be included in that priority group, given their exposure to COVID-19 through constant contact with travellers when providing assistance to private, crashed or broken-down vehicles. We have spread this appeal on our social media with the hashtags #SomosAuxilioEnCarretera and #COVID19.
We wanted to stress that, since the start of the pandemic, we have been a sector that is highly committed to complying with protective measures (hand gel and face masks) and safety protocols (social distancing). The work of roadside assistance drivers and technicians is crucial for mobility, road safety and assistance to travellers.
At the time of writing, 8.55 million doses have been administered in Spain. 6.1% of the population is already fully vaccinated.