"Vaccinating medical personnel, aged care workers and quarantine hotel staff is critical, but what about the bus driver who gets these people home, the retail assistant who helps them at the supermarket, the hospitality worker who provides them with food and drink?" said ACTU acting secretary Liam O'Brien. "Many essential workers are in regular close proximity with large sections of the community and often unable to distance themselves by virtue of the nature of their work." Advertisement Loading The Australian Retailers Association, which represents major chains including 7-Eleven and Bunnings, is also pushing for early access. "We would like retail staff to be given priority in the roll-out given their frontline and essential services status and this is something we will be discussing with government," said Fleur Brown, the ARA's head of industry affairs.