HHS Secretary visits farmworker vaccination clinic
On July 23, the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, visited and observed a farmworker vaccination clinic conducted by the Grower Shipper Association of Central California (GSA) and Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas (CSVS) at the Rodeo Grounds in Salinas.
This clinic is part of the ongoing vaccination effort by GSA and CSVS, which was initiated in late February and has administered more than 40,000 vaccines to farmworkers in the region.
As a federally recognized health center, CSVS secured the vaccines for these clinics directly from HHS. GSA and CSVS were gratified to show Secretary Becerra firsthand the significant positive impact of these vaccines on the health of essential workers.
“We appreciate Secretary Becerra coming to this clinic today to see the health benefits these HHS-supplied vaccines have brought to our community,” says Dr. Max Cuevas, CSVS Chief Executive Officer. “We also want to thank all the health care professionals, volunteers, staff and ag employers who have made these mass clinics possible. Their commitment to essential workers and the community has been inspiring and the Secretary’s visit honors and recognizes that commitment.”
“The Secretary’s visit underscores how the federal government supports local efforts to protect the health and safety of farmworkers,” says Christopher Valadez, GSA president. “Through the direct access to HHS vaccines, we were able to quickly launch these clinics and administer life-saving inoculations to protect farmworkers and our community from this persistent virus.”
The GSA and CSVS mass clinics have received national attention for the volume of vaccinations administered and the protection provided for essential workers who nurture and harvest fruits and vegetables for consumers throughout the country.
In addition to the mass vaccination clinics, GSA also developed onsite worker training programs conducted by health care professionals, created an expedited testing program for farmworkers with CSVS and established a quarantined housing program for essential employees who have been exposed or sickened by the virus where they can rest comfortably and recover.
“Our thanks to Secretary Becerra for visiting these clinics and talking with clinic volunteers and the farmworkers receiving these vaccines today,” Valadez says. “As we have seen with the Delta variant, this virus keeps evolving so we must continue our efforts to protect and vaccinate farmworkers and the Secretary’s visit and recognition of our work motivated all of us.”
In a statement, the United Fresh Produce Association said:
"We are grateful for Secretary Becerra’s visit to see firsthand what our industry has done and continues to do to protect our most valuable resource, our companies’ workers. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the essential workers in the food supply chain did their jobs each and every day and our employers worked to make sure they did so in a safe environment. That commitment by both worker and employer kept food on the shelves, even during the darkest days of COVID. This effort to focus on farmworkers’ access to vaccinations is another step in that process to protect our workers and feed the world and we appreciate the Secretary and the Administration for their support and recognition of our industry’s efforts.”
