Vital to a clean world, scavengers left to plead for vaccine

Isaac Kivai, who scavenges recyclables for a living, puts on a protective suit found in the trash at Dandora, the largest garbage dump in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Trash pickers, who are not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine shot, say the gear especially protects them from the weather during the rainy season. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Duncan Wanjohi, scavenges recyclable materials for a living at a garbage dump at Dandora, the largest garbage dump in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Sunday, March 28, 2021. He wears a protective medical suit he found in the trash. He and other scavengers, who are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, say the gear protects them from the weather during the rainy season. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Trash pickers unload garbage in Mexico City, Monday, March 29, 2021. In Mexico, scavengers help municipal workers on garbage trucks and often collect trash from neighborhoods not served by authorities. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Trash workers look for recyclables at Bhalswa landfill on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. An estimated 20 million people around the world help keep cities clean by scavenging through landfills and dumps. Experts say these trash pickers, who sometimes toil alongside paid municipal sanitation workers, provide a vital service, yet they usually are not on a priority list for coronavirus vaccines. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Duncan Wanjohi, right, and Kelvin Kimani, center, scavenge for recyclable materials on Sunday, March 28, 2021, from Dandora, the largest garbage dump in Kenya's capital of Nairobi. Their protective medical suits were found among material thrown away from hospitals. An estimated 20 million people around the world help keep cities clean by scavenging through landfills and dumps. Experts say these trash pickers, who sometimes toil alongside paid municipal sanitation workers, provide a vital service, yet they usually are not on a priority list for coronavirus vaccines. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Trash pickers surround a municipal garbage truck dumping trash at the Bhalswa landfill on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. The pandemic has amplified the risks that these informal workers face. Few have their own protective gear or even clean water to wash their hands, said Chitra Mukherjee of Chintan, a nonprofit environmental research group in New Delhi. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Manuwara Begun, 46, sorts out garbage collected from households in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, March 9, 2021. Begun lives in a cardboard hut behind a five-star hotel in the heart of New Delhi and feels the inequity keenly. Trash pickers often find it hard to get vaccines because they are not considered by the government to be essential workers or cannot afford to wait at overburdened public hospitals for free shots. Chintan estimates that each year, those like her save the local government over $50 million and eliminate over 900,000 tons of carbon dioxide by diverting waste away from landfills. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Garbage trucks drive through the Pavia dump in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 3, 2021. An estimated 20 million people around the world help keep cities clean by scavenging through landfills and dumps. Experts say these trash pickers, who sometimes toil alongside paid municipal sanitation workers, provide a vital service, yet they usually are not on a priority list for vaccines against the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Young girls play near a landfill on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. An estimated 20 million people around the world help keep cities clean by scavenging through landfills and dumps. Experts say these trash pickers, who sometimes toil alongside paid municipal sanitation workers, provide a vital service, yet they usually are not on a priority list for vaccines against the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Isaac Kivai scavenges recyclable materials for a living at Dandora, the largest garbage dump in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Sunday, March 28, 2021. He wears a protective medical suit he and his friends had found in the trash. The waste pickers say the gear protects them from the weather during the rainy season. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Sahra Bano sorts reusable items from the Bhalswa landfill on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. An estimated 20 million people around the world help keep cities clean by scavenging through landfills and dumps. Experts say these trash pickers, who sometimes toil alongside paid municipal sanitation workers, provide a vital service, yet they usually are not on a priority list for coronavirus vaccines. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A man scavenges for artificial hair at Dandora, the largest garbage dump in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, on Sunday, March 28, 2021. He is wearing a protective medical suit that he and his friends had found thrown away by hospitals. Trash pickers, who are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, say the gear protects them from the weather during the rainy season. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Birds hover as trash pickers look for recyclable waste at Bhalswa landfill on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Every day, more than 2,300 tons of garbage is dumped at Bhalswa. It covers an area bigger than 50 football fields and has a pile taller than a 17-story building. Thousands of these informal workers climb the precarious slopes to pick through what can be salvaged. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A man wearing a protective suit he found in the trash scavenges for artificial hair at Dandora, the largest garbage dump in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Trash pickers, who are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, say the gear protects them from the weather during the rainy season. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Trash collectors look for recyclables at Bhalswa landfill on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. An estimated 20 million people around the world help keep cities clean by scavenging through landfills and dumps. Experts say these trash pickers, who sometimes toil alongside paid municipal sanitation workers, provide a vital service, yet they usually are not on a priority list for vaccines against the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Trash pickers look for recyclable waste at the Bhalswa landfill on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. An estimated 20 million people around the world help keep cities clean by scavenging through landfills and dumps. Experts say these trash pickers, who sometimes toil alongside paid municipal sanitation workers, provide a vital service, yet they usually are not on a priority list for coronavirus vaccines. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Traffic moves on a highway near the Bhalswa landfill on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Every day, more than 2,300 tons of garbage is dumped at the landfill, which covers an area bigger than 50 football fields, with a pile taller than a 17-story building. And every day, thousands of scavengers climb the precarious slopes to pick through what can be salvaged. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Isaac Kivai, who scavenges recyclables for a living, wears a protective suit found in the trash at Dandora, the largest garbage dump in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Trash pickers, who are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, say the gear protects them from the weather during the rainy season. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)