A year ago, the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California established a first-of-its-kind housing program for farmworkers in the Salinas Valley who were exposed to COVID-19, had tested positive for the virus or were symptomatic.
Fast-forward to 2021, and the association is fully invested in distributing vaccines to farmworkers. It is the second year of the fight to protect the farmworkers who sustain Salinas Valley growers.
With 10 consecutive weeks of vaccine clinics and thousands of doses administered to farmworkers, the association has helped Salinas Valley growers protect their farmworkers this year.
Christopher Valadez, president of the association, said it had been involved in about 25,000 vaccinations of farmworkers by April 24. The association has partnered with a local health clinic, Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas (CSVS), to offer the vaccine clinics.
About another 10,000 farmworkers in the Salinas Valley have vaccinated by other efforts through hospitals, pharmacies and other outlets
Overall, 40% to 45% of some 60,000 Salinas Valley farmworkers had had at least one dose by April 24, he said.
“We’re the only program that’s been operating every week, at the volumes at which we’ve been operating,” he said. “We’ve been the only operating outlet for employers who have been able to organize their employees in large groups to come and get vaccinated on a consistent, steady weekly basis.”
The first vaccine clinic on Feb. 25 offered vaccines to 300, followed by a March 6 event that administered 3,000 vaccinations. Since then, the Saturday vaccinations have served from 2,500 to 4,500 farmworkers.
The vaccinations have been held at various sites, including the Salinas rodeo grounds and the Salinas Valley fairgrounds in King City. Association members have been a big part of organizing their employees into groups to be vaccinated.
From 50 to 75 individual fresh produce companies have utilized the program.
“Companies have been able to capture those (workers) who were interested and ready to go,” he said. “I think a lot of those folks, if not the overwhelming majority, of that camp has been captured.”
By late April, the next step for the association was to determine what farmworker population is left to be vaccinated.
“We’ve hit the majorities, and we’re on to the minorities,” Valadez said.
About 80% to 90% of farmworkers in some companies have been vaccinated, he said.
“I don’t know if anybody has 100%, but I am hearing that in these workplaces, they actually really have a high rate of acceptance.”
“A lot of employers were holding employee orientations that they would do anyways, kind of like as their on-boarding. But as part of their on-boarding, they were doing education and surveying with respect to vaccine interest, awareness, and hopefully acceptance,” he said.
Part of the strategy to provide more vaccinations to farmworkers may mean adjusting the hours of the clinic to make it even more convenient to receive the vaccine during the week.
Robert Verloop, chief operating officer of Coastline Family Farms Inc., Salinas, Calif., said the board of directors for the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California is made up of a good mix of Salinas Valley growers, shippers, labor contractors and landowners.
“I think we’ve allowed Chris to do what needed to be done and really take a forward-looking stance, when it comes to making sure that our workers are protected,” Verloop said.
“There is a tremendous amount of appreciation for the fact that the (association) has worked with all the local authorities to make this happen.”
