An Okotoks physician is part of a team that will vaccinate employees at a meat plant just north High River, which was the site of one of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in North America.
Team is a key component, said Okotoks’ Dr. Cassandra Hoggard, a family physician out of Foothills Family Practice in Okotoks, who will be vaccinating Cargill employees later this month.
“I think this is wonderful, it is a culmination of a lot of collaboration for different groups that ordinarily work in silos,” said Hoggard. “The doctors in the Mosaic PCN (Primary Care Network) are partnering with the Rural PCN, which is us, because (Mosaic) they have lots of experience with immigrant health and work with Cargill.
“I am so excited about the project.”
One of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in North America took place at the High River Cargill plant in April of 2020 and the facility was closed for two weeks. There were 484 cases of the coronavirus linked to the plant on April 20, 2020.
There have been three deaths linked to COVID at the plant, which employs approximately 2,200 people.
Dr. Brent Friesen, a medical officer of health in the Calgary zone, said it is hoping to vaccinate more than 2,000 people at the plant, which is expected to happen in late April over the course of two to three days.
“If we look at workers in meat processing facilities, they have experienced some of the highest rates of infection in terms of if you look at the proportion of people working at a particular workplace and the number that become infected if COVID-19 is introduced into it,” Friesen said. “We know from experience that this group is particularly at risk.”
He added the Cargill workers' efforts are an essential component of the food supply.
“For a number of reasons, they have been looked at as a priority group to vaccinated,” he said.
Hoggard said the project is similar to vaccines being given onsite at seniors homes and long-term care facilities.
“We went into these high-risk groups and vaccinated those people and it is working,” Hoggard said. “We are seeing that payoff in this third wave with our high-risk groups in senior care.
“Now it is time to find other high-value areas that can make a huge difference with vaccinating – and I think Cargill represents one of those areas where we can be impactful.
“I think the best time to get a vaccine is as soon as it is offered to you. I really do think we are in a race right now, and time is certainly of the essence.”
Dr. Rachel Talavlikar works with the Mosaic Refugee Clinic in northeast Calgary.
“As part of the Mosaic PCN we were involved last year during the initial response to the outbreak (in April at Cargill), I was one of the family doctors who got to make the call to patients and make sure they were okay,” Talavlikar said.
She said the Mosaic PCN, which is located in northeast Calgary, worked closely with the Rural PCN, including doctors in High River and the Foothills area, during the Cargill breakout. She said it was a natural fit as many of the Cargill employees live in northeast Calgary and the High River area.
“Over the course of the year it’s kind of been an ongoing project,” said Talavlikar, who did part of her residency in the Foothills area. “Now that this opportunity is mobilizing, with this collaboration with Cargill I will have the opportunity to go in and provide vaccines… It’s gone full circle.”
She said she believes it is the first time a place of employment was chosen for a location to give vaccines.
“We are hoping that this goes well - it will be used as a model for this kind of vaccine delivery in other large facilities where there are high-risk people,” she said.
A Cargill spokesperson said in a prepared statement it has worked closely with Alberta Health Services and other agencies on the vaccination project.
“We are very pleased to work with AHS on this initiative. Our response throughout this pandemic is guided by our values – putting people first and doing the right thing,” said Jon Nash, global lead for Cargill’s protein and salt business. “We have been unwavering in our commitment to protect the health and safety of our employees, who are working tirelessly to ensure millions of people have food to eat. We are applying these same values when it comes to vaccinations.”
