Workers at meat plants encouraged to vaccinate

OMAHA, Neb. — Meatpacking companies and public health officials are trying to overcome any reluctance workers may have about coronavirus vaccines before they become eligible to get them.

Major companies such as Tyson Foods and JBS are encouraging workers to get the vaccine with campaigns to educate them about the benefits and safety of the shots. Also, JBS and Pilgrim’s Corp. are offering $100 bonuses to workers who get the vaccine.

Last spring, the virus spread quickly through meatpacking plants, where workers stand shoulder-to-shoulder as they carve up meat on production lines.

But some workers, who are immigrants, distrust the government, and some question the safety of the shots because they were developed in less than a year, said Eric Reeder, president of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 293 union.

“It’s the same thing as when we tried to get people involved in the (vaccine) trials,” Reeder told the Omaha World-Herald. “We had a hard time with the non-English-speaking population. A lot of them felt like this was a government plot to kill them.”

JBS spokeswoman Nikki Richardson said the company is trying to address workers’ concerns through flyers in their native languages and other efforts.

“We are currently focused on achieving the highest voluntary participation rate possible and preventing barriers to getting the vaccine,” JBS spokeswoman Nikki Richardson said. “We want to do everything we can to protect our team members, their families, their co-workers and our communities.”

Reeder said he got the first dose of the vaccine Monday because he was in a trial as it was being developed last year. He plans to share photos of himself getting the vaccine.“A lot of it is just gonna be building some level of trust,” Reeder said.In Nebraska, meatpacking workers and other essential workers who can’t work from home are scheduled to get the vaccine in one of the next phases of the campaign after health officials finish vaccinating people 65 and older.