GFB News Magazine

 

 PROTECT YOUR PEACH: 

COVID-19 VACCINE TIPS & RESOURCES

 

The Georgia Department of Agriculture, UGA Extension and Georgia Farm Bureau are partnering with local health departments and other organizations asking the Georgia ag community to “Protect Your Peach.”

The public education campaign is using the social media hashtag #ProtectYourPeach to feature information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) to promote the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine. The goal is to provide Georgians with the facts about the vaccine.

Extension, CDC and DPH have compiled resources at www.gfb.ag/ExtensionCovidinfo and encourage all members of Georgia’s agriculture community to share them. UGA Extension encourages anyone working closely with the agriculture sector to utilize the materials, which were jointly developed with CDC and DPH to educate Georgia farmers and ag workers. ‘Healthy Georgia’ flyers, which outline pertinent facts about the vaccine are available to download at the aforementioned website or may be requested at county Extension & Farm  Bureau offices.

 

 FROM THE CDC 

THE VACCINE IS SAFE

• The COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have been through the same rigorous safety testing that all vaccines go through before being approved for use.

• The public may have only recently become aware of mRNA technology, but it has been studied for more than a decade.

• The vaccines do not contain live virus; they do not carry a risk of causing disease in the vaccinated person.

• The vaccines do not alter or interfere with DNA.

• The vaccines will not give recipients COVID-19 or cause them to test positive on COVID tests. 

 What to expect 

BEFORE

• Take time to learn about the different types of COVID-19 vaccines & how they work. Check with state or local health departments to see if they are recommended for vaccination.

DURING

• Vaccine recipients should receive a fact sheet on the specific vaccine they received, including information about risks, benefits & potential side effects.

AFTER

• Recipients should receive a vaccine record card that indicates which vaccine they received, the date they received it and where they received it. This information is important for scheduling the second dose.

• There have been side effects, but most are mild & generally go away within one or two days. Side effects occur more frequently following the second dose.

CDC vaccine information and resources may be accessed online at www.gfb.ag/vaxneedtoknow.

GUIDEBOOK FOR FRUIT & VEGETABLE GROWERS

The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA) in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), Georgia Department of Agriculture and UGA Extension, has developed a practical and comprehensive COVID-19 handbook for growers and farm labor contractors in the specialty crop sector.

Written specifically for Georgia growers, “Protecting Yourself Against the Coronavirus” focuses on maintaining a safe and healthy workspace on the farm. This resource, available in both English and Spanish, contains science-based information.

All information in the handbook is based on CDC and Georgia DPH guidance. To download this free resource, visit www.gfvga.org/store .