Front-line food factory workers are next for the COVID-19 vaccine

Workers in Minnesota’s food processing plants – hard hit by the coronavirus at the start of the pandemic – will be among the next in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Governor Tim Walz and health commissioner Jan Malcolm announced on Thursday that the next wave of people set to receive the vaccine will be those with certain high-risk health conditions, in addition to essential workers – specifically, the 45,000 workers in the factories of state food processing. Vaccination of these groups is expected to begin in April.

Meat and poultry processing plants were at the epicenter of some of the first outbreaks of COVID-19 in communities in central and southern Minnesota. Hundreds of workers at factories in Worthington, Cold Spring, Melrose and Long Prairie tested positive, and some of the factories closed briefly to contain the spread of the virus.

“Across the country and here in Minnesota, these were some of the biggest and most serious outbreaks we’ve seen,” said Malcolm. “And we know that the population that works in these factories is made up of members of the BIPOC community and people who live in multigenerational families”.

She added that Minnesota’s food processing sector is important to the nation’s food supply.

The companies that own these factories say they are ready to help vaccinate their employees. But so far, the vaccine launch in Minnesota has focused on people aged 65 and over, health professionals, residents and staff from long-term care facilities and teachers and caregivers of children.

The unions representing the slaughterhouse workers say they understand why these groups were given top priority, but were also frustrated by the wait.

“We all had the understanding that as soon as the vaccine became available, essential workers would be included in the receipt of that vaccine,” said Lisa Thoma, union representative at JBS USA’s pig processing plant in Worthington, earlier this week. “Obviously, we couldn’t do our work at home. We’ve been ahead of that since the beginning. “

Refrigerators have become hot spots in part because of the large size of their workforce, restricted working conditions and shared common areas, such as cafeterias and rest rooms.

In April last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order forcing meat processors to remain open to protect the country’s food supply chains. The factories have adopted safety precautions, such as complementary sanitation, provision of personal protective equipment to workers and, in some cases, placement of physical barriers between workers on the assembly line.

“They’ve been there since the beginning,” said Jennifer Christensen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189 union, which represents workers at Long Prairie Packing and other factories in Minnesota. “They continued to work. They made sure that people received food and kept the processing going. “

Still, plants remain high-risk environments for the transmission of the virus, she said.

“You are still in a place where hundreds of people come every day,” said Christensen. “They do security checks. People wear masks and face shields and change their masks regularly, and there are partitions in the cafeterias. But I think people are still concerned, if not for themselves, perhaps for their families. “

Matt Utecht, president of UFCW Local 663, who represents workers at JBS’s Worthington plant, called the governor’s announcement a “strong step” to ensure that essential workers have access to the vaccine they need to stay safe.

“Minnesota key workers on the front lines in supermarkets, refrigerators and food processing facilities continue to face the daily risk of exposure to COVID-19,” said Utecht on Thursday. “Every day in the pandemic, these brave workers put their own health at risk to feed Minnesota families.”

Antonio Jimenez is a 26-year-old employee at JBS’s Worthington plant. He hired COVID-19 last April and said he still feels persistent effects.

Jimenez said he is happy that slaughterhouse workers can get the vaccine in April, but he would like it to be sooner.

“I’m just waiting, and it’s a long time to wait,” he said. “I really hoped to achieve that before that.”

Companies that operate food processing plants have been pressuring their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Some are seeking vaccination at the factories, Malcolm said.

Nikki Richardson, a spokesman for JBS USA, said the company has the ability to administer mass vaccinations in its factories or elsewhere off-site. She recently vaccinated about 700 workers at a pig factory in Illinois, she said.

In central Minnesota, Stearns County Emergency Manager Erin Tufte said the county will work with its two main food processing plants, Jennie-O Turkey in Melrose and the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry factory in Cold Spring, along with with the health company CentraCare to plan the workers vaccination plant.

Tufte said there are advantages to having the vaccination on site, because it is more accessible for people who have transportation problems or day care.

“If we can do this in the place where they are already working, it is one less barrier to accessing the vaccine,” she said.

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The data in these charts are based on the Minnesota Department of Health cumulative totals released daily at 11 am You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at Department of Health website.

Coronavirus is transmitted by respiratory droplets, coughing and sneezing, similarly to the spread of flu.