GSA and clinic announce program to vaccinate Monterey County farm workers

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) The Grower-Shipper Association and Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas announced that they have created a new program in an effort to administer COVID-19 vaccines to Monterey County farm workers.

The program, which is scheduled to start Thursday, will be limited to farm workers aged 65 and older, but GSA and CSVS say they plan to expand the program next week to vaccinate more farm workers. CSVS is a federally qualified health center, so it receives vaccine doses from the federal government designated for food and agricultural workers.

“CSVS and GSA began working on a vaccination distribution system as soon as we learned about their potential availability,” said GSA President Christopher Valadez. “We knew it was crucial to have an effective and efficient appointment-based program in place before harvesting began in the spring to protect these essential workers.”

GSA will work with employers to register eligible employees for vaccinations, and GSA will work with CSVS to schedule appointments.

The first clinic will happen at D'Arrigo California.

“We are collaborating with key health and agricultural industry stakeholders to host the first mass vaccination site for agricultural workers in Monterey County. Our goal is to provide meaningful, strategic and prevention-oriented actions to protect the health and safety of our agricultural workers,” said President, CEO and Chairman of the Board, D’Arrigo California John D’Arrigo.