Sonja Diaz, executive director of the Latino Policy and Politics Initiative (LPPI) at UCLA Luskin, spoke to ABC7 News about the importance of quickly vaccinating California’s essential workers regardless of age. Diaz pointed to the success of Riverside County’s program to bring COVID-19 vaccines directly to farmworkers. “What’s really important is you don’t need technology to get your appointment, you just need to show up,” she said. “When we think about who our workers are right now and the fact that they’re on the front line, saving American lives, we know that they’re not over the age of 65, and they deserve access to a vaccine.” In California, Latinos make up 39% of the population and 55% of the state’s essential workforce, but just 16% of those who have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Immediately expanding access to the vaccine is one of several strategies that LPPI and other advocates are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to implement.