Writing in Wine Industry Advisor, Laurie Wachter writes about how essential worker vaccinations were critical to operations during the pandemic.
Laurie writes that:” Vineyard and winery production workers across the country labored through the pandemic, pruning, and harvesting grapes, crushing and bottling wine. The workers’ dedication while COVID-19 raged elevated winery concerns about unvaccinated worker safety.
With states like California focusing initially on the heavily impacted 65+ population, many wine-producing communities moved ahead with independent plans to deliver vaccines to their teams as early as possible. One example is the cooperative effort by wineries, grape growers, and health care providers in Sonoma County to conduct hundreds of COVID-19 vaccinations beginning in January. Within four months, 100% of essential agricultural and production workers were successfully vaccinated.”
“To encourage the community to get vaccinated as quickly as possible,” says Sonoma County Vintners Executive Director Michael Haney, “we increased educational resources and messaging, and produced a series of local radio ads and educational flyers. We also drafted mitigation protocols, developed COVID-19 signage templates and hosted a community food distribution.”
Foley Family Wines also joined with community partners to effectuate vaccinations. According to second-generation vintner Courtney Foley, “We were able to sign up over 90% of our production and farmworker employees for the vaccine through programs we coordinated with Sonoma County Vintners, Sonoma County Medical Association, and many others statewide.”
“As an employer, you want your place of business to be viewed as a safe place.” That means wineries will need to make decisions about requiring the use of masks or proof of vaccination. Once the logistical details of vaccinations and masks are clarified, staffing issues resolved, and the tourist flow increases, wineries will breathe a sigh of relief and move forward to business as usual.
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