What We’re Reading | Alberta will vaccinate 2,000 employees at Cargill meat packing plant

The Globe and Mail by Carrie Tait

Alberta intends to offer vaccines to about 2,000 meat-packing employees at their worksite this month as part of an effort to target citizens most at risk of contracting the coronavirus and who might otherwise struggle to access or accept shots.

A mass vaccination clinic for employees at Cargill Ltd.’s High River operation, which was the site of the largest workplace outbreak of COVID-19 in Canada, is scheduled to start around April 20, according to one of the doctors leading the project. Employees at Cargill’s Case Ready facility in Calgary may also be included.

Physicians across the country are urging provincial governments to rejig their vaccination plans to prioritize essential workers such as those in warehouses and meat-packing facilities. In Alberta, meat-packing operations have been especially vulnerable to COVID-19 as employees work in tight quarters and face language and cultural barriers. The Cargill plan, organized in part by Calgary physician Annalee Coakley, would be Canada’s first major workplace vaccination effort.

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