Student Volunteers From the Hartnell Nursing Program Encourage COVID-19 Vaccination Among Agricultural Workers

Registered and vocational nursing students from Hartnell College will be at the Taylor Farms facility in Gonzales on the morning of Tuesday, February 23, and the afternoon of Wednesday, February 24 to give educational presentations in English and Spanish to company employees as they prepare for their workday. Employees will be in groups of 85-100 at a time, in socially distanced chairs. Since the end of January, the students have presenting COVID-19 information in English and Spanish to six groups of Taylor Farms employees, and this week's work continues that effort. “We’re educating farm workers about the benefits of the vaccine and seeing if they have any questions, trying to dispel some of the myths that are surrounding the vaccine,” Dr. Shepperd said. “The students are on their own. I said, ‘Here’s the material. You need to study it; you’re going to be presenting it. They just kind of took it and owned it.” Student nursing volunteers have also continued to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to hundreds of people across the Salinas Valley. In January, they helped deliver the second vaccine dose to emergency first responders and others at locations of the Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas, serving 1,400 people, and they also have been administering the vaccine at Mee Memorial Hospital in King City two days a week since mid-January. Media are invited to cover these presentations, at Taylor Farms in Gonzales, 100 Puente Del Monte Ave. Representatives should check in with security. Parking will be available. The schedule of presentations is as follows: Feb. 23, 2021 6am-Sanitation/Trim Lines 7am-Bags Room 9 7:30am-Bags Room 2/1 Tray 8am-Trays 8:30am-Indirects Feb. 24, 2021 3pm-Trim Lines 4:15pm-Bags Room 9 4:45pm-Bags Room 2/1 Trays 5:15pm-Trays/Indirects