After ‘major’ COVID-19 outbreak, Foster Farms begins vaccinating workers in Fresno
Foster Farms launched the first large scale effort to vaccinate employees at a major food processing facility in Fresno County on Tuesday at their South Cherry Avenue plant.
The poultry processing plant in southeast Fresno received enough doses of the Moderna vaccine to protect 1,000 employees against COVID-19, according to Ira Brill, vice president of communications for Foster Farms.
The vaccines are part of the Food & Ag Vaccination Initiative, a pilot project run by the Fresno County Department of Public Health, which set aside vaccines for 3,000 food processing and agricultural workers. Workers at Terranova Ranch in Helm and Pappas Family Farm in Mendota have been vaccinated through the same program.
While coronavirus cases are now below 1%, over 200 employees have been sickened with the virus, and four people have died from COVID-19 related complications at the plant to date, Brill said. At least one worker has died at the West Belgravia Avenue plant in southwest Fresno.
Statewide, the company has reported at least 21 deaths and two hospitalizations, according to Brill.
Foster Farms is facing a lawsuit from the United Farm Workers for a September outbreak in Livingston. On Monday, a Merced County Superior Court judge reinforced UFW’s push for worker protections. The company called the lawsuit “without merit.”
About 850 employees at the southeast Fresno facility signed up to receive the vaccine, representing a majority of their employees, Brill said. While the company hopes everyone will want the vaccine, if any doses are leftover, they will be returned to the Fresno County Health Department.
By noon on Tuesday, about 160 employees had received the first dose of the vaccine.
“My employees are excited that we’re one of the first ones here in the Valley,” said Severiano Solorzano, a plant supervisor. “They feel safer getting the vaccine, and because they’re not bringing COVID to their families.”
The Fresno County Department of Public Health launched an investigation into the southeast Fresno plant in December when an outbreak sickened at least 193 employees. The outbreak was one of the biggest in Fresno County. But as The Bee previously reported, the county keeps workplace outbreaks secret, so it’s impossible to compare the deaths or case counts to other facilities.
Brill said that the county found no deficiencies in their mitigation plan. Fresno health officials did not comment on the status of the investigation for this article.
“Part of the reason the county health department entrusted us with the vaccination is that, again, we maintained a very close working dialogue with the county,” Brill said. “We are happy to serve as a pilot to get this done.”
The company said they hope the Fresno event will serve as a model for vaccinations in their Merced and Tulare county facilities.
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 5:01 PM with the headline "After ‘major’ COVID-19 outbreak, Foster Farms begins vaccinating workers in Fresno."