HARLINGEN, Texas (KVEO) — One group of essential workers haven’t been approved to receive theirs yet: farmworkers.

Over seven and a half million vaccine doses have been given so far in Texas. School employees became the latest group of people to be able to get a vaccine shot under orders from President Biden,

Since the pandemic began nearly a year ago, most Texans saw their hours at work go down. But farmworkers have been as busy as ever.

“Farmworkers continue to work, some could make the case that farmworkers are the most essential workers in the country,” said Danny Diaz, the director of organizing for LUPE in the Rio Grande Valley.

While some other jobs have the possibility of working remotely, harvesting crops cannot be done from home.

Because the window to pick some of the crops is so short, tons of food could be wasted if it isn’t harvested quickly. Farmworkers cannot afford to take as many precautions about staying home while sick, like those in other industries.

“It’s not like they can stop the crop season,” said Diaz. “People continue to work and continue to put themselves at risk.”

On top of the time constraints for the crops themselves, farmworkers are often below the poverty level and must work to survive.

“They’re in an industry where people are paid really, really low, and they have to go even though they know they’re putting themselves at risk because they have to pay the bills,” said Diaz.

LUPE has been urging state officials to think about the safety of farmworkers and the food supply when deciding who gets the vaccine next.

In the meantime, Diaz told KVEO that LUPE is meeting with farmworkers in the Rio Grande Valley “to make sure that people are informed who within the farmworker community right now actually qualifies.”

Despite their essential work of feeding the whole country, Diaz said farmworkers haven’t been treated as essential.

Adding despite all the progress that farmworkers have made for better treatment, the COVID-19 vaccine situation proves more needs to be done.

“Traditionally, historically, farmworkers have been sort of forgotten or left behind,” said Diaz.

“In a sense, we’re still seeing that trend even into the 21st century and into our new decade where farmworkers are kind of just at the end.”

www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/farmworkers-counted-as-essential-for-the-food-supply-but-not-for-covid-19-vaccines/