Advocates Fight Covid-19 Vaccine Concerns Among Agricultural Workers

Luz Gallegos stood in a Hemet, Calif., orange grove last month and asked for a show of hands among the farmworkers assembled there: How many of you want a Covid-19 vaccine? No hands went up.

Ms. Gallegos said her team of health workers from Latino advocacy organization Todec have done hundreds of vaccine education events like this in southern California since early October to encourage agricultural workers to get the shots. Each time, she said, the health workers encounter broad reluctance. They must disabuse the agricultural workers of vaccine myths that are circulating—including a common one that the shots contain a microchip to help the government trace and deport undocumented workers.

Community health workers like the Todec team are working across the U.S. to reach some of the millions of Latinos laboring on farms and in meatpacking and poultry plants, a group that is at once among the most vulnerable to Covid-19 and yet more reluctant than others to get vaccinated.

The health workers are battling a deluge of vaccine misinformation spread among agricultural workers’ friends and family as well as in churches and on social media. The health workers point to Facebook , in particular, saying posts often discourage the shots by amplifying widespread distrust of immigration authorities or exploiting religious beliefs.

The health workers’ efforts may be crucial to bringing a swift end to the pandemic, given the spread of the virus in this community. Scientists warn that any delay in vaccinations could give rise to variants that are more transmissible, lethal or resistant to existing vaccines. California has given priority to food and agricultural workers for early doses.

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