Call for farm workers to be vaccinated

The country’s oldest agricultural union, TLU SA, has written a letter to the minister of health, requesting all farm workers be considered as a priority group for vaccination against Covid-19.

TLU SA said, seeing as farm workers perform an essential service and have been classified as such since the beginning of the restrictions, efforts should be made to vaccinate them ahead of schedule.

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Their exposure to Covid-19 is significantly high and it would be harmful if production units had to be placed in isolation in the event of an outbreak. TLU SA made the request six weeks ago.

But, according to Henry Geldenhuys, president of TLU SA, ‘to date, we have not received any response from Minister Zweli Mkhize’.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, TLU SA has held the view that everything possible must be done to fight the virus, but that it must be done with a functioning economy.

By severely restricting the economy, a second threat is created, namely poverty and famine.

‘We need a balance to ensure these two threats are both addressed,’ said Geldenhuys.

‘The need to maintain food chains and production is one of the most important things currently needed.

‘We cannot afford to have farms quarantined should a Covid-19 outbreak occur,’ he said.

What worries TLU SA is that President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that phase two of the vaccination roll-out will start in mid-May, and that 5.5 million people over the age of 60, with co-morbidities, will be vaccinated between 17 May and 31 July.

TLU reiterates its urgent call to the minister to prioritise the vaccinations of farm workers.

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