The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected the health of food system (FS) essential workers compared with other essential and non-essential workers. Even greater disparity exists for workers in certain FS work settings and for certain FS worker subpopulations. We analyzed essential worker respondents (n = 151,789) in May–Novem-ber 2021 data from the National Immunization Survey Adult COVID Module (NIS-ACM) to assess and characterize COVID-19 vaccination uptake (≥1 dose) and intent (reachable, reluctant), attitudes about COVID-19 and the vaccine, and experiences and difficulties getting the vaccine. We compared rates, overall and by certain characteristics, between workers of the same group, and between FS (n = 17,414) and non–food system (NFS) worker groups (n = 134,375), to determine if differences exist. FS worker groups were classified as “agriculture, forestry, fishing, or hunting” (AFFH; n = 2,730); “food manufacturing facility” (FMF; n = 3,495); and “food and beverage store” (FBS; n = 11,189). Compared with NFS workers, significantly lower percentages of FS workers reported >1 dose of COVID-19 vaccine or vaccine requirements at work or school, but overall vaccine experiences and difficulties among vaccinated FS workers were statistically similar to NFS workers. When we examined intent regarding COVID-19 vaccination among unvaccinated FS workers compared with NFS counterparts, we found a higher percentage of FMF and FBS workers were reachable whereas a higher percentage of AFFH workers were reluctant about vaccination, with differences by sociodemographic characteristics. Overall, results showed differences in uptake, intent, and attitudes between worker groups and by some sociodemographic characteristics. The findings reflect the diversity of FS workers and underscore the importance of collecting occupational data to assess health inequalities and of tailoring efforts to worker groups to improve confidence and uptake of vaccinations for infectious diseases such as COVID-19. The findings can inform future research, adult infectious disease interventions, and emergency management planning. © 2024 by the Authors.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has had a significant public health impact on both the United States and Mexico. Cross-border mobility between southern California and Mexico raises questions of transmission trends between these jurisdictions. The objective of this project was to describe binational cases amongst California US-Mexico border county COVID-19 cases and compare incidence trends to cross-border Mexico jurisdictions. METHODS: Interview data from persons with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections in San Diego County, CA and Imperial County, CA from February - June 2020 were reviewed for binational cases; demographics and connection to COVID-19 outbreaks were assessed. Graphs of COVID-19 incidence in San Diego County and Imperial County were compared to incidence graphs in cross-border Mexico jurisdictions of Tijuana and Mexicali. RESULTS: Persons with COVID-19 and a binational case were older, more likely to be Hispanic, and reside in a border ZIP code than those without. Binational cases were a small proportion and tracked with overall cases during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Binational cases had different trends than non-binational cases of SARS-CoV-2 in San Diego and Imperial counties from February - June 2020. Findings could inform SARS-CoV-2 mitigation strategies specific to the US-Mexico land border, particularly recommendations regarding cross-border land travel.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has partnered with the National Center for Farmworker Health to respond to the impact of COVID-19 on US farmworker communities. Immigrant farmworkers are often isolated from public health infrastructure. This partnership built the capacity of a national network of organizations to connect farmworkers to COVID-19 education and vaccinations in 20 states through training and resource sharing. The partnership funded 194 network member staff, trained 1130 individuals, and supported COVID-19 outreach to more than 600 000 farmworkers. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(2):166-169. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307159).

The National Immunization Survey Adult COVID Module used a random-digit-dialed phone survey during April 22, 2021-January 29, 2022 to quantify COVID-19 vaccination, intent, attitudes, and barriers by detailed race/ethnicity, interview language, and nativity. Foreign-born respondents overall and within racial/ethnic categories had higher vaccination coverage (80.9%), higher intent to be vaccinated (4.2%), and lower hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccination (6.0%) than US-born respondents (72.6%, 2.9%, and 15.8%, respectively). Vaccination coverage was significantly lower for certain subcategories of national origin or heritage (e.g., Jamaican (68.6%), Haitian (60.7%), Somali (49.0%) in weighted estimates). Respondents interviewed in Spanish had lower vaccination coverage than interviewees in English but higher intent to be vaccinated and lower reluctance. Collection and analysis of nativity, detailed race/ethnicity and language information allow identification of disparities among racial/ethnic subgroups. Vaccination programs could use such information to implement culturally and linguistically appropriate focused interventions among communities with lower vaccination coverage.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 20,000 people died from influenza in the US in the 2019 - 2020 season. The best way to prevent influenza is to receive the influenza vaccine. Persons who are foreign-born experience disparities in access to, and utilization of, preventative healthcare, including vaccination. METHODS: National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data were analyzed to assess differences in influenza vaccination coverage during the 2012-13 through 2017-18 influenza seasons among adults by nativity, citizenship status of foreign-born persons, race/ethnicity, and language of the interview. RESULTS: Influenza vaccination coverage increased significantly during the study period for US-born adults but did not change significantly among foreign-born racial/ethnic groups except for increases among foreign-born Hispanic adults. Coverage for foreign-born adults, those who completed an interview in a non-English language, and non-US citizens, had lower vaccination coverage during most influenza seasons studied, compared with US-born, English-interviewed, and US-citizen adults, respectively. CONCLUSION: Strategies to improve influenza vaccination uptake must consider foreign-born adults as an underserved population in need of focused, culturally-tailored outreach. Achieving high influenza vaccination coverage among the foreign-born population will help reduce illness among the essential workforce, achieve national vaccination goals, and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in vaccination coverage in the US.