fbpx
Print this page
Tuesday, 16 November 2021 06:55

Mandate meat jabs!

Written by  Peter Burke
Meat processors wants the Government to mandate vaccinations for its workforce both for staff safety and to ensure continued market access for its products. Meat processors wants the Government to mandate vaccinations for its workforce both for staff safety and to ensure continued market access for its products.

Meat companies support Government plans for a clear and simplified risk assessment process to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory at their plants.

The Meat Industry Association (MIA) chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says currently, companies can make Covid-19 vaccination a health and safety requirement at plants.

However, this is a difficult and complex process and required companies to do an assessment of the different risks of vaccinated versus unvaccinated people.

"It is critical that all workers are vaccinated to provide a shield against Covid-19, especially for meat processing where workers are working close together for long shifts. We applaud the Government for taking this step," she told Rural News.

Karapeeva says any sort of additional tools that meat companies can use to protect their workers are worthwhile. She says international experience shows meat companies tend to be quite a high risk environment for the spread of Covid and that is why the industry has worked hard to put in place the safety protocols to keep the virus out of the workforce.

"We know that China and other countries are looking to protect their own people very robustly and we need to respect that because we are doing the same," she adds. "While the vaccination mandate is not the silver bullet, it is another layer of protection that we can use to put around our workforce."

Karapeeva notes that Maori and Pasifika people make up a significant portion of the meat industry workforce and these groups are lagging behind in getting vaccinated. She says processing plants in individual regions are doing a lot of work to facilitate the uptake of the vaccination by working with local health providers, iwi and Maori health providers to try and overcome that information gap and educate people to help them get vaccinated.

Karapeeva says MIA welcomes the Government's recognition that having a fully vaccinated workforce will support continued access to NZ's global markets and it looks forward to the details on how this will be applied.

More like this

Covid's urban/rural divide

According to a new study from the University of Otago, there was a visible rural/urban divide in Covid-19 vaccination rates.

An annual event?

Meat Industry Association chief executive, Sirma Karapeeva, says she hopes that National Lamb Day will now take place every year.

Covid inquiry to visit Northland

Better understanding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the people of Northland, and the role communities played in the pandemic response, will be the focus of a visit from the Covid-19 Inquiry, says inquiry chair Professor Tony Blakely.

Featured

Dairy sheep and goat turmoil

Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.

Hurry up and slow down!

OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.

Editorial: Passage to India

OPINION: Even before the National-led coalition came into power, India was very much at the fore of its trade agenda.

National

Knowing bugs means fewer drugs

A mastitis management company claims to deliver the fastest and most accurate mastitis testing available at scale for New Zealand…

Machinery & Products

100 years of Farmall Tractors

Returning after an enforced break, the Wheat and Wheels Rally will take place on the Lauriston -Barhill Road, North-East of…

JD unveils its latest beast

John Deere has unveiled its most powerful tractor ever, with the launch of the all new 9RX Series Tractor line-up…

Biggest Quadtrac coming to NZ!

In the biggest announcement that Case IH Australia/New Zealand has made around its tractor range, its biggest tractor is about…

A different shade of blue for Norwood

Norwood and ARGO Tractors, the Italian manufacturer of Landini and McCormick tractors, have announced an agreement that gives Norwood exclusive…

Kubota tests diesel engines

Kubota last month used the UK LAMMA Show to test the water with its new 200hp, four-cylinder 09-series diesel engines.