Nov 24, 2021

Vaccine confidence is AgriSafe’s COVID-19 toolkit aim

Agriculture is known as one of the most dangerous industries in America, and during the COVID- 19 pandemic this industry has been essential in providing food and fiber to the country, despite increased risk of illness for migrant farmworkers and other agricultural laborers.

AgriSafe has joined with advocates to keep rural communities informed and up to date with evidence-based information regarding vaccine confidence. Data shows COVID-19 vaccination rates vary substantially across the United States, with some counties nearing 100% vaccination while others have rates under 5%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  As of Nov. 1, the rural vaccination rate is approximately 44.7% reporting 20.6 million rural Americans vaccinated against COVID-19.

The AgriSafe Social Media Toolkit, contains numerous social media message templates for educators, agricultural businesses, and organizations to use in the effort to deliver accurate messages that answer questions that underline vaccine hesitancy. To increase vaccine confidence, the COVID-19 vaccine social media toolkit aims to:

• Create a cohesive, clear, understandable message promoting COVID-19 vaccine resources for Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (AFF) workers.
• Increase engagement on farm safety and health social media platforms.
• Disseminate resources about the COVID-19 vaccine for AAF workers.

Toolkit themes include general downloads; benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine; essential workers, essential vaccines; Ivermectin; videos; and COVID-19 questions and answers. Additional information includes tips on toolkit use and social media hashtags to expand reach. For more information or suggestions on how to use toolkit content, email AgriSafe Network at [email protected].