OPINION: The need to do more to vaccinate agricultural and other workers

Something to celebrate: delivering vaccines to essential workers - STAT Many of the essential workers who have kept America running still haven't been vaccinated. It's time to bring Covid-19 vaccines to them. Patrick Skerrett STAT

Covid-19 vaccines are cause for celebration. Family members are reuniting, people are traveling and returning to restaurants. Yet many of the essential workers who have kept transportation running throughout the pandemic, who grow and cook food, and who fill the boxes that arrive on America’s doorsteps still have not been vaccinated.

In mid-to-late May 2021, less than half of low-income workers living with children reported being vaccinated. Structural barriers are preventing vaccine access among workers. People facing food and housing insecurity are more likely to be unvaccinated but want a vaccine, as are people with children. It is not a matter of lack of individual responsibility for health among those who haven’t yet been vaccinated because they are providing food, housing, and care for themselves and their families. Policymakers can support essential workers by improving vaccine delivery.

The U.S. must not accept a prolonged Covid-19 pandemic among essential workers.

The Biden administration has announced it will not reach the goal of vaccinating 70% of the population by the Fourth of July. Many of those who aren’t vaccinated are essential workers. Workers in meatpacking plants, agriculture, mail services, public transportation, and many other industries that kept the country running during the pandemic continue to face elevated exposure to Covid-19 and deaths due to Covid-19, but have lower vaccination rates than people working from home. The administration should make essential workers central to our country’s Fourth of July celebrations and to the next phase of vaccination efforts.

 ... graphs showing vacination rates by occupation

To succeed, federal and state leaders should focus on meeting people who face structural barriers to Covid-19 vaccines where they are: at work, on the commute from work, and at home.

Meatpacking plants, agriculture settings, and grocery stores are ideal workplaces to deliver vaccines based on Household Pulse Survey data showing that more than one-third of workers in these industries have not been vaccinated. ...