REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Dorothy Pelanda, director, Ohio Dept. of Agriculture, joined with other Midwest agriculture leaders in making a video to spread the message that getting a COVID-19 vaccination was important. 

“When you’re eligible it’s important to get vaccinated,” said Randy Romanski, Secretary-designee, Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture. 

“We all want to be part of the solution,” continued Pelanda. 

“It’s a tremendous opportunity to get vaccinated, to protect yourself but also the public,” added Thom Peterson, Commissioner, Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture. 

“If we want to get back to face-to-face interaction,” said Jerry Costello II, Director, Illinois Dept. of Agriculture, “this is an essential tool,” continued Dr. Ryan Quarles. Commissioner, Kentucky Dept. of Agriculture. 

“It’s so important to protect each other, to protect our food supply system,” explained Gary McDowell, Director, Michigan Dept. of Agriculture.

In tag-team fashion, the ag leaders went on to say that the vaccine protects not only your own health but the health of the communities. The best science and data say it’s completely safe and it’s important to protect each other and to protect the food supply system. 

It is still vital to continue the preventative measures everyone has become so familiar with, the leaders said. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a time to be extra vigilant, not to let up on wearing a mask, social distancing, and hand washing.

This joint video came about largely because, about a year ago, McDowell called Pelanda and the other leaders and suggested, that even though they were all part of a national organization, perhaps the Midwestern leaders should meet monthly to talk about things that are occurring in the Midwest.

“Enthusiastically I said yes and I look forward to that meeting monthly,” Pelanda said. “We bounce ideas off of each other, work together as a team to ensure our farmers and communities are staying healthy and safe. Really, the collaboration, the sharing of information has been fantastic.”

McDowell leads the agenda at the monthly meeting, Pelanda said. All the leaders have an opportunity to add things to the next month’s agenda.

The leaders knew that many in the agricultural business look to their state agriculture directors and commissioners for guidance and advice. So they wanted to stress that they know the vaccines available to Americans are safe.

“That was the motivation behind all of us getting together in one unified voice to say that we have a tremendous opportunity to get vaccinated thus protecting ourselves, and the public,” Pelanda said. “We want to be part of the solution so we can all get back to work and to make sure that we, as part of the critical food chain process, are moving forward as quickly as possible.”