Rep. Lou Correa Urges Gov. Newsom to Include Migrant Food and Farm Workers in Vaccination Plan

Press Release

Today, Congressman Lou Correa joined his colleagues on the California Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom to ensure farmworkers and migrant food workers are included in state vaccination efforts. The letter urges equity of distribution for all full-time and part-time residents and pushes the state to conduct a robust educational campaign to ensure these essential workers feel secure in seeking out and accepting the vaccine.

In the letter, Congressman Correa urged Governor Newsom to include a farmworker-specific component in any vaccination plan that rises to the challenges of enumerating our migrant agricultural workforce to ensure they are accounted for. California's 800,000 agricultural workers are an essential workforce responsible for sustaining California's $50 billion agricultural industry and the production of America's fresh food supply. Employment in California agriculture is highly cyclical, with more than 254,000 migrant, seasonal, or migrant food-processing workers traversing the state each year. At the county level, the seasonal workforce may double during harvest, however on an individual farm, the harvest to winter worker ratio may be as high as 100 to 1.

Rep. Lou Correa said, "California feeds the world, yet since the beginning of the pandemic farmworkers have accounted for a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases. We must get vaccines for these essential workers. I look forward to working with Governor Newsom to help these vital workers. If we fail our farmworkers, it is the American people who will feel the pain."

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