Farmworkers Receive Vaccines in Maricopa County
May 2021
Making the COVID-19 vaccine available to underserved communities and populations is a priority for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. The department has been working in partnership with organizations and employers to bring the vaccine into the community through community-based vaccine events. As an essential part of our workforce to produce and deliver food, farm workers have been a focus for Public Health.
Since February 2021, MCDPH has vaccinated 2,978 farm workers through partnerships with 35 local farms to bring the vaccine on site for workers. In some cases, the events have been a collaborative effort with one farm hosting the vaccine event and inviting workers from multiple neighboring farms to participate.
In addition to providing safe and convenient access to the COVID-19 vaccine, MCDPH also educates communities that may need more information prior to the event through a partnership with The Arizona Partnerships for Immunization (TAPI). A group of medical volunteers from TAPI provide information on the vaccine to communities in multiple languages to ensure that everyone has access to factual information prior to the vaccine events. This method of education and outreach ensures that people have the opportunity to learn more in their native language, can ask questions and feel comfortable about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Updates to the registration process has also helped to reduce accessing the COVID-19 vaccine much easier. Paper registration has been available to farm workers to address any hesitancy or barriers related to technology access. The events have also been able to accommodate people who did not have an appointment.
Participating Farms
Farms that have had the opportunity for their employees to be vaccinated on site or at a neighboring farm include producers of dairy, meat, produce, eggs, roses and other agriculture. More farm workers vaccination events are on the horizon to reach as many people as possible in their place of work. To date, the farms that have been able to participate in COVID-19 vaccination events include:
Rousseau Farm hosted an event on March 25 and 26 where workers from the following neighboring farms had an opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccination: Bolthouse; Duncan; Everkrisp; Miedema; Rovey; Sycamore and Touchstone.
Stotz Farm hosted an event on March 29 here workers from the following neighboring farms and agriculture partners had an opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccination: Accomazzo Farm; Ambian Dairy; Belmont Dairy; Bybee Calf Ranch; Dairy Vet Services; Desert Chem; Fairlife Dairy Farm; Flying R Farm; Gingg Farms; Grandview Dairy; Kerr; Perry; Piazzo Dairy; PRP Farm; Rimoldi Calf Ranch; Rocker 7 Farm; Saddle Mountain Dairy; Sandal Bay Beef Ranch; Stotz Dairy Farm; Sunrise Dairy; Triple G Dairy and the United Dairy Association.
Woolf Farm hosted an event on April 17 where workers from the following neighboring farms had an opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccination:
G Farms; Miedema Produce; Rousseau Farm; Woolf Roses Farm.
Hickman’s Farm, JBS Meatpacking and Taylor Farm have also hosted vaccination events for their workforces.
MCDPH has had a long-standing history of working with multiple community partners to reach underserved populations. These established partnerships, a dedicated Public Health workforce and a massive corps of more than 20,000 highly trained professional medical volunteers are integral to the work that Maricopa County has been doing to provide COVID-19 vaccination opportunities. These outreach efforts have served groups that include airport workers and travelers; Asian American communities; faith-based communities; homebound individuals; people experiencing homelessness; refugees; technologically isolated people; and visually- and hearing-impaired people.
For more information on Maricopa County’s COVID-19 efforts, visit www.Maricopa.gov/COVID19.
Read more news from Maricopa County at www.Maricopa.gov/News.
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