Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Tuesday announced a new targeted effort to vaccinate workers at New York State farms and food production facilities. The state will coordinate with local health departments and Federally Qualified Health Centers to bring pop-up vaccination sites to workers, including migrant workers, at their places of employment.

The Governor also announced that as part of the new vaccination effort, New York State will provide 500 doses to Sun River Health, a local health care network, to administer to Angry Orchard employees, as well as farm and food production workers from other facilities in the Orange County area. Vaccines will be administered beginning Wednesday, April 21.

"As we continue to expand eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine and establish more pop-up sites to reach New Yorkers in underserved communities, it's critical that we bring the vaccine to every part of the state, not just those with high populations. That's why we're making sure food production workers and farm workers in rural areas, including migrant workers, get vaccinated for COVID-19," Cuomo said. "This new effort to bring the vaccine directly to farmers and food production workers at their places of employment is an important step forward to reaching a population that lives in more remote parts of the state. COVID remains a threat to all of us, but we have the weapon that will win the war — we just need to make sure it's available to everyone who is eligible across New York."

The effort to vaccinate food production workers and farmworkers builds on New York's efforts to combat food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FY 2022 Enacted Budget adds $50 million to Nourish New York for a total $85 million investment to extend the program through 2021. This critical program helps people who are food insecure access the nourishment that they need, leveraging the vast agricultural industry of New York State to connect food banks and providers to purchase locally grown and produced food.

Since the Governor launched Nourish NY at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, 21 million pounds of surplus agricultural products have been purchased from New York farmers and delivered to more than 1.3 million households in need across New York State. Purchasing and food distribution using this third round of funding — which was first announced during the Governor's 2021 State of the State Address — are currently underway.