PENDLETON — Officials in Umatilla and Morrow counties are ramping up vaccine efforts after receiving approval from the state on Monday, March 22, to broaden eligibility to agricultural workers immediately in an effort to help a workforce hit disproportionately hard by the pandemic.

In Morrow County, officials from the Oregon Health Authority are working with county officials at a four-day mass vaccination clinic at the Sage Center in Boardman through Saturday, March 27.

The clinic, which is a “pilot project” for similar statewide efforts, is intended to offer 1,200 doses specifically to farm and food processing workers this week, according to Morrow County Commissioner Melissa Lindsay.

In Umatilla County, health officials have started reaching out to agricultural and food processing facilities, hoping to bring vaccines to people who are both hard to connect with and often can’t take time off work.

“We are trying to aggressively get enough vaccines and set up (opportunities) for the farmworkers to get vaccinated,” Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock said.

The efforts come in response to an announcement from Gov. Kate Brown last week, saying the state would speed up its vaccination timeline to meet the Biden administration’s goal of having all adults eligible for a vaccine by May 1.

However, counties that had sufficiently vaccinated all other eligible groups could apply to expand eligibility to agricultural workers, along with other populations at high-risk of COVID-19, ahead of the state’s distribution timeline.

Umatilla and Morrow counties are among 20 counties statewide that has received approval from the state to vaccinate other groups. Most of the counties that received approval lie east of the Cascade range. Counties that have yet to apply will wait until Monday, March 29, to offer vaccines to people in Phase 1b, Group 6.

The approval allows the counties to enter the vaccine priority list Phase 1b, Group 6. Those eligible include adults with underlying conditions between the ages of 45 to 64, seafood and agricultural workers, unhoused people, people displaced by wildfires, wildland firefighters, women who are over the age of 16 and pregnant, and people living in low-income, senior congregate and independent living facilities.

Vaccines for the vulnerable

The change in Morrow and Umatilla counties is especially geared toward a community of frontline workers that have borne the brunt of the pandemic — Hispanic and Latino agricultural workers.

In Umatilla County, Hispanic residents accounted for more than 40% of the county’s total COVID-19 cases in 2020, according to data from the county health department. The population also tested positive at a rate over three times higher than non-Hispanics and were hospitalized at a higher rate, the data shows.

And in Morrow County, Hispanic residents have accounted for approximately 57% of the county’s total COVID-19 cases, according to data provided by county officials as of March 12.

Officials from both counties have pointed to workplace exposures in food processing and agricultural facilities as having contributed to the disproportionately high rates of infection, which echoes both state and national trends.

“Our farmworkers were disproportionately impacted by COVID,” Murdock said. “We had some very high numbers, and it was people who had no choice. If they want to support their families, they had to work. They have to be out in the fields and in the processing plants. And while efforts are made to try and protect them, it’s very difficult. So, consequently, they become very, very vulnerable.”

Just in time

The state’s approval comes just in time for spring harvest, which brings an influx of agricultural workers to the region annually, officials from both counties said. In Umatilla County, harvest season brings with it more than 10,000 additional jobs, officials say.

“That’s exactly why we immediately raised our hand” when the state said counties could expand vaccinations,” Lindsay said. She added that the county’s essential workforce is one of the largest in the state and is predominantly comprised of Hispanic and Latino workers.

Lindsay said she hopes the new timeline will bring with it a surge of vaccinations as the county begins to see more and more people hesitant to get a shot.

As of Tuesday, March 23, only 300 appointments had been made at the SAGE Center clinic for the 1,200 doses provided by the state, Lindsay said. She described the lack of appointments as “concerning,” though workers are not required to make an appointment to get a shot.

Morrow County officials will be making further efforts to communicate and educate regional farmworkers about the importance of getting vaccinated as harvest season continues, Lindsay said.

Umatilla County Public Health Director Joe Fiumara said he’s also concerned that the vaccine turnout among agricultural workers will be slim, since many employees cannot simply leave work to get a shot.

So, the county has contacted employers at agriculture and food processing facilities to bring the vaccines to them. Murdock said the health department has “talked to virtually all employers of both processing plants and farmers to try to figure out strategies for conducting vaccines where they are.”

The county has already held vaccine clinics at two food processing facilities in Weston, Fiumara said, and more are planned for later in the week.

“Our hope is that by reducing some barriers for these (food processing) and migrant workers,” he said, “they don’t have to necessarily leave work, go to our drive-thru on a Thursday or Friday, maybe sit for a half-hour in line, and then go back to work and potentially miss out on three or four hours of pay to get their shot when we can, in many cases, get to them and reduce that time.”

New clinics

In the coming weeks, Fiumara said the county is looking to work with state officials to hold similar efforts as the SAGE Center clinic in Boardman. He added that the state’s team could help bring extra doses, which the county desperately needs.

“We’re trying to do the same thing here,” Fiumara said. “Largely because that (team) comes with additional vaccines. That’s a big draw for us.”

Since early March, Umatilla County has been entrenched at the bottom of the state’s rankings for COVID-19 vaccinations per capita. The county has vaccinated 1,576 people per 10,000 residents, which is last in the state, according to state data. Officials have said the low rates are due to a meager allocation from the state.

“All of our grand plans and designs are dependent on getting enough vaccine, which for us is a constant problem,” Murdock said.

Fiumara said the latest development shouldn’t immediately change the rest of the county’s vaccine timeline.

“We’ll stick with the state’s (timeline) as long as we’ve got people to give doses to,” he said. “If we feel like we need to go further, we’ll start those conversations with the state again about moving beyond that. It’s all about having vaccine and getting it to people, and we want to make sure those folks who are high-risk have ample opportunity to receive it.”