FRANKFORT, Ky. — Essential workers in Kentucky can start signing up for and potentially receiving COVID-19 vaccines starting Feb. 1. This signals the light at the end of the tunnel for the hard-hit food supply industry.

What You Need To Know

  • Essential workers can begin signing up for vaccines

  • Early on in the pandemic meatpacking facilities were hit hard

  • Food workers fall into the Tier 1C category

  • Regional sites will be set up for vaccinations

 

A report from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found as many as one in 12 coronavirus cases at the beginning of the pandemic could be tied to meatpacking facilities. Clay Horton, Public Health Director for the Green River District Health Department said that played a role in community spread.

"In April, the outbreaks in meatpacking facilities were really driving what we were seeing in our communities," Horton said.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 227, the union that represents many of these employees in the Commonwealth, said it has been a difficult time for the men and women who kept working throughout the pandemic, despite the risk.

“The food and supplies we have all been able to get for our families have come at a much higher price than you and I pay at the register. Food workers and grocery workers have been exposed to the virus. They have a high-risk and some of them are dying,” UFCW Local 227 Communications Specialist Caitlin Blair said.

These workers fall into the Tier 1C category, along with others deemed essential workers by CDC classifications. For weeks, they had been waiting to find out when it will be their turn to get the vaccine.

"We get a lot of questions from our members asking when they can expect to be scheduling their appointments to get their vaccines because it does offer some hope," Blair said.

Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Kentucky, cleared that up in his COVID-19 briefing Thursday. He said Kroger is opening up regional vaccination sites on Feb. 1. At that time, those sites will administer vaccines to anyone in the Tier 1A, 1B or 1C categories. Qualifying Kentuckians will still need to schedule an appointment. At this time, it is still unclear where those regional sites will be located or when people can start signing up for an appointment. We will provide an update when that information becomes available.

Related Stories