Groups rush to get Florida farmworkers vaccinated

MIAMI (AP) — It's a race against time for nonprofits, organizations and officials who are trying to vaccinate thousands of farmworkers who were denied priority access in Florida but now have to travel north to harvest crops in other regions.

Farmworker advocates are asking officials to quickly mobilize to areas such as Homestead, south of Miami, and Immokalee, east of Naples, and to be more lenient when requiring proof of residency now that the state has lowered the vaccine eligibility age. They say many farmworkers are in the country illegally and don't have a driver's license or other documents required as an alternative.

Top officials with Miami-Dade County told activists and farmworkers Wednesday at a virtual roundtable on vaccine distribution not to worry about the documents and focus instead on outreach and gathering groups of farmworkers ready to get the shot.

“I think we can handle the IDs. We just need to get the numbers and get the places. I need to know where you want us, how many. That’s what I am looking for," said Frank Rollason, director of emergency management for Miami-Dade County.

Groups such as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, have decried that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did not prioritize farmworkers in the state's vaccine rollout like other governors did. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried says she has been asking the governor since December to allow farmworkers to get the shot.

The vaccination plan restricted community clinics from starting inoculations because many of these populations were not yet eligible by age. Since January, the state began requiring proof of Florida residency, adding another hurdle for some workers.

DeSantis's vaccine motto has been “seniors first,” with a few exceptions such as people with underlying health conditions, older police officers,...