Fresno Co. health officials aiming to provide better care for farmworkers

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Help is here and many of those on the front lines have already learned when and how they'll receive the Pfizer vaccine.

But with cases surging, Fresno County health officials are now pushing out new guidelines to better care for another essential group: Farm Workers.

Fresno County health and agriculture officials released the new guidelines on Wednesday.

They say protecting the 70,000 farmworkers in our area is crucial to protect the workforce and secure the food supply.

Some of the new guidelines include providing PPE and requiring face masks at work, conducting health assessments, and more testing.

"Recommending employers 10 percent of their on-site personnel every two weeks," says Dr. Trinidad Solis. "If they do have symptoms, employers should be going home immediately."

As more vaccines head this way, state officials say farmworkers could be part of the next group of people getting vaccinated.

Fresno-area Agriculture officials say the majority of the population is willing to get the vaccine

"What we're seeing is that 50 percent will take the vaccine and close to 35 percent saying they won't, and 15 percent say they aren't sure," says Hernan Hernandez, Executive Director of the California Farmworker Foundation.

Health officials are campaigning for the vaccine, and are in the process of reaching out to Fresno County farmworkers who are hesitant to clear up the myths and promote its safety.