Meat Lobby Group Calls for Vaccine Priority for Plant Workers

The U.S. meat industry wants its workers early in line for the Covid-19 vaccine, once healthcare employees and those in long-term care facilities get the shot, the North American Meat Institute said Thursday in a statement.

Employees working in close quarters at meatpacking plants were among the hardest-hit groups in the early stages of the pandemic in the U.S., with 8% of cases linked to outbreaks at those facilities, according to a study by the Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.