More than 600 San Luis Obispo County agriculture workers received COVID-19 vaccinations at a special half-day clinic in Arroyo Grande last Friday.
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department worked with the SLO County Farm Worker Outreach Task Force to host the event, which health officials say is the first of several planned at the county's mass vaccination sites in Paso Robles and Arroyo Grande.
County officials say most of the people who went through the clinic received the single-dose vaccine. However, there was such a large turnout at the event, a small number of people received a first dose of the two-dose vaccine. The county is working with those people to make sure they get an appointment for their second dose.
Prior to the Friday clinic, officials say health educators visited work sites to share vaccine information. Agricultural employers, farm labor contractors, and community partners helped register workers in groups, and multilingual volunteers from the Promotores Collaborative, Herencia Indígena, and Dignity Health provided on-site interpretation and health education.
Throughout California, farmworkers and their families have faced increased risk from COVID-19.
Workers in the food and agriculture sector, which also includes restaurant and grocery workers, are also eligible to receive the vaccine at the county's regular vaccine clinics or participating pharmacies.
San Luis Obispo County has also opened up vaccine eligibility to these additional groups:
- People 50 years of age and older
- Residents at high risk because of certain severe medical conditions or disabilities
- Education and child care workers
- Emergency services workers
- Public transit workers
- Janitorial service workers
- Health care and community health workers
- Long-term care facility residents and staff
- Residents who live or work in a homeless shelter or a behavioral health facility
To find out if you are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in SLO County and to register for an appointment, click here.
For more information on the county's coronavirus response, visit readyslo.org.