Smarsh Brianna L, Yankey David, Hung Mei-Chuan, Blanck Heidi M, Kriss Jennifer L, Flynn Michael A, Lu Peng-Jun, McGarry Sherri, Eastlake Adrienne C, Lainz Alfonso Rodriguez, Singleton James A, Lincoln Jennifer M
Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
CDC COVID-19 Emergency Response, Atlanta, GA, USA.
J Agric Food Syst Community Dev. 2024;13(2). doi: 10.5304/jafscd.2024.132.012.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected the health of food system (FS) essential workers compared with other essential and non-essential workers. Even greater disparity exists for workers in certain FS work settings and for certain FS worker subpopulations. We analyzed essential worker respondents ( = 151,789) in May-November 2021 data from the National Immunization Survey Adult COVID Module (NIS-ACM) to assess and characterize COVID-19 vaccination uptake (≥1 dose) and intent (reachable, reluctant), attitudes about COVID-19 and the vaccine, and experiences and difficulties getting the vaccine. We compared rates, overall and by certain characteristics, between workers of the same group, and between FS ( = 17,414) and non-food system (NFS) worker groups ( = 134,375), to determine if differences exist. FS worker groups were classified as "agriculture, forestry, fishing, or hunting" (AFFH; = 2,730); "food manufacturing facility" (FMF; = 3,495); and "food and beverage store" (FBS; = 11,189). Compared with NFS workers, significantly lower percentages of FS workers reported ≥1 dose of COVID-19 vaccine or vaccine requirements at work or school, but overall vaccine experiences and difficulties among vaccinated FS workers were statistically similar to NFS workers. When we examined intent regarding COVID-19 vaccination among unvaccinated FS workers compared with NFS counterparts, we found a higher percentage of FMF and FBS workers were reachable whereas a higher percentage of AFFH workers were reluctant about vaccination, with differences by sociodemographic characteristics. Overall, results showed differences in uptake, intent, and attitudes between worker groups and by some sociodemographic characteristics. The findings reflect the diversity of FS workers and underscore the importance of collecting occupational data to assess health inequalities and of tailoring efforts to worker groups to improve confidence and uptake of vaccinations for infectious diseases such as COVID-19. The findings can inform future research, adult infectious disease interventions, and emergency management planning.
与其他必要和非必要工作者相比，新冠疫情对食品系统（FS）必要工作者健康的影响尤为严重。在某些FS工作环境中的工作者以及某些FS工作者亚群体之间，差距更为明显。我们分析了2021年5月至11月来自国家成人免疫调查新冠模块（NIS-ACM）数据中的必要工作者受访者（n = 151,789），以评估和描述新冠疫苗接种率（≥1剂）和接种意愿（可说服、不情愿）、对新冠及疫苗的态度，以及接种疫苗的经历和困难。我们比较了同一组工作者之间、FS工作者组（n = 17,414）和非食品系统（NFS）工作者组（n = 134,375）之间的总体接种率及按某些特征划分的接种率，以确定是否存在差异。FS工作者组分为“农业、林业、渔业或狩猎业”（AFFH；n = 2,730）；“食品制造工厂”（FMF；n = 3,495）；以及“食品和饮料店”（FBS；n = 11,189）。与NFS工作者相比，报告接种过≥1剂新冠疫苗或在工作或学校有疫苗要求的FS工作者比例显著更低，但接种疫苗的FS工作者的总体疫苗接种经历和困难在统计学上与NFS工作者相似。当我们比较未接种疫苗的FS工作者与NFS工作者的新冠疫苗接种意愿时，我们发现FMF和FBS工作者中更易被说服接种的比例更高，而AFFH工作者中不情愿接种的比例更高，且存在社会人口学特征差异。总体而言，结果显示了工作者群体之间以及某些社会人口学特征方面在接种率、接种意愿和态度上的差异。研究结果反映了FS工作者的多样性，并强调了收集职业数据以评估健康不平等以及针对不同工作者群体开展针对性工作以提高对新冠等传染病疫苗接种信心和接种率的重要性。这些发现可为未来研究、成人传染病干预措施及应急管理规划提供参考。
