Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Union, Farm, Ventura County Team Up To Get COVID-19 Vaccinations To Agricultural Workers

(KCLU photo)
A clinic organized by the United Farm Workers, Ventura County and a Ventura County Farm vaccinated more than 100 agricultural workers Tuesday

The parking lot of the headquarters of a Ventura County farm has been turned into a COVID-19 vaccine clinic.  More than 100 employees of Moorpark’s Muranka Farm are getting vaccinated at an event organized by the United Farm Workers, Ventura County Public Health, and the farm.

Roman Pinal is with the UFW.  He says during the pandemic, farmworkers have been out in the fields, and in packing houses risking contracting the virus to get us the food they need.

And, he notes because of things like dorm-like housing, and the use of busses to transport workers, there have been serious outbreaks.

Pinal says it’s especially important to get agricultural workers vaccinated as soon as possible because some of them move up and down the state, with crops.  He says without the shots, they could spread COVID.

The farm feels the vaccinations are so important it scheduled them on the clock for the workers, to insure they are protected.  Charles Muranka is the owner of Muranka Farm.  He says safety is a high priority, and while they have done things like using masks and social distancing, the vaccine in vital to protecting everyone.

Organizers of the event say a multi-lingual education efforted insured the buy in of the workers.

The workers say they get the importance of the vaccinations for themselves, and other.

The UFW has organized a second joint vaccination event with the county for this coming weekend, in Oxnard. 

Because of some outbreaks in the farmworker community during the pandemic, the county identified agricultural workers as a high priority.  Workers in the county started to get shots about a month ago. 

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.