An open letter to Governor Ron DeSantis regarding the prioritization of the COVID-19 vaccine, on behalf of Florida's frontline farmworkers 

Throughout the pandemic, you have recognized migrant farmworkers as essential in our community. Like many other Americans, especially other essential workers, the farmworker community has suffered immensely due to COVID-19 since they are frontline workers. In Palm Beach County alone, the Guatemalan Maya Center consistently saw a 30% infection rate among the 600 farmworkers and families that would regularly test on a Saturday night. This high COVID-19 infection rate was partly due to unequal access to healthcare among these essential workers, especially since many live in rural areas, and in part a result of performing hazardous essential work that few are willing to do and which can not be performed remotely. Despite these health struggles and the suffering in our community, many have been assuaged by the recognition that their work is essential. 

As you know, farmworkers are also central to Florida's second largest industry, agriculture, and therefore to the stability of our economy. In 2017, we were third in all states for the most agricultural exports, bringing in over $4 billion. Agriculture is perhaps more critical to our economy now than ever before, considering our first industry is tourism, which will revive only with the passing of COVID-19 and the widespread use of the vaccine. Additionally, farmworkers feed us all, keep our grocery stores well stocked and provide security and comfort to those who view scarcity as a state's failure and an individual's reason to hoard. For these reasons, your assurance of their essential role has been a comfort to everyone. In many ways, recognizing farmworkers as essential has kept the people in Florida from falling into the uncertainty and cynicism that results from empty grocery store shelves.

For the above stated reasons, we request that you prioritize essential farmworkers for the COVID-19 vaccine independent of their immigration status, that access to health care is improved for farmworkers, including an expansion of COVID-19 test sites, and that all incoming H2A workers arrive vaccinated or are first on the list for vaccination. Those who have labored tirelessly in the fields throughout the pandemic deserve concrete action that recognizes their significance to the lives of every American. We know that by prioritizing farmworkers, you will be prioritizing the stability of our state and saving the lives of some of our most essential workers.

As vaccines become accessible to people of any age, prioritizing farmworkers in the vaccine rollout also means distributing in rural areas, increasing flexibility in ID requirements to include organizational IDs, and providing information in different languages including Spanish, Haitian Kreyol and other indigenous languages.