Fred de Sam Lazaro:

Nationwide, at least 50,000 meatpackers have been infected with the coronavirus, and some 250 lost their lives.

But Jessica Velasco, who works for a community group called Unidos, says the outlook is beginning to feel brighter. At JBS, which offered a $100 incentive, about 1,600 of its 2,200 workers have received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That still leaves thousands of others unvaccinated, many in smaller factories and on livestock farms.

Immigrants comprise more than half the 12,000 to 15,000 population of Worthington and the surrounding farm country. The languages they speak are from Southeast Asia, from the Horn of Africa, and the predominant group is from Central America. But, even here, many are from indigenous groups and don't necessarily speak Spanish.

Minnesota's Department of Health began conducting pop-up vaccination events last weekend and saw a steady trickle of takers.

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