National Beef Begins Employee Vaccination in Kansas

National Beef, Governor Kelly, Kansas leaders and UFCW Local 2 announce joint effort to secure vaccines for National Beef employees and essential meat processing workers in Kansas.

Kansas City, Mo. (March 5, 2021) — More than 6,000 National Beef employees in Dodge City, Kan., and Liberal, Kan., are now eligible and have started receiving COVID-19 vaccinations, following yesterday’s announcement that prioritizes meat processing workers for vaccine distribution in Kansas.

Governor Laura Kelly, Tim Klein, CEO of National Beef, UFCW Local 2, and other leadership groups in Kansas outlined a plan where Kansas meat processing employees and counties with meat processing plants will receive vaccine doses, earmarked explicitly for them.

“National Beef is grateful to all the partners who have helped provide vaccines for the meat processing industry’s essential workers. We especially appreciate the efforts of the state of Kansas, local health departments, and the UFCW2 working hand-in-hand with us to offer protection to our employees from COVID-19,” says Tim Klein, National Beef CEO.

National Beef has been working diligently to provide multi-language, fact-based information to employees about COVID-19 vaccines, so employees can feel informed, safe and secure in their choice to get vaccinated and protect themselves, their families, and their communities.

“In addition to the proven COVID-19 safety measures we’ve implemented, we now have another tool available that will provide more extended term protection to our employees.,” says Klein, “We remain committed to prioritizing the safety of our employees and communities to better protect the people in our facilities, towns, and states. It is vital to protect the lives of those carrying out the mission to feed America’s families.”

Employee safety has been a priority for National Beef since the onset of the pandemic. The company has implemented multi-layered COVID-19 prevention practices and is grateful to offer another form of protection for essential workers in their meat processing facilities.

“Throughout this pandemic, meatpacking plant workers have stepped up to maintain the food supply chain successfully.” Governor Kelly said in the press conference, “We owe them our gratitude for keeping food on the shelves and the plates of families across our state, our nation, and the world.”