A California legislator has introduced a bill that would prioritize food and agricultural workers for distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
AB 93, introduced by Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, would give vaccine priority to workers in the food chain, including food processing workers, as well as farm workers and grocery store employees.
“It’s those handling our food that are most exposed to, and spreading, the COVID-19 virus,” Garcia said, as quoted by the Palm Springs Desert Sun. “We want to make sure that as we’ve labeled them essential, that they are part of the first rounds of vaccination.”
It’s unclear how vaccine priority would work. So far the federal government has left distribution plans mostly up to the states, but that could change under a Biden administration. California is now trying to set priorities, but the guidelines it has released so far mention only health care as a prioritized job category.
