On Thursday, Durham Health set up a COVID-19 cell vaccination clinic at McLean Community Center in Ajax to vaccinate only other homeless people in West Durham.
Durham Region Transit and other network partners took others in precarious situations to the clinic. Customers were reviewed through local organizations such as Ajax Hygeine Hub and Salvation Army before leaving them on the site.
“We seek to provide a low barrier environment, they can come if they need to be vaccinated, we answer their questions, we teach them fitness and we also provide them with vaccines if necessary,” said John Riches, Durham’s deputy director. paramedical services.
“There are barriers to your physical care and you can spend the night in shelters that are considered gathering places. We need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to spread the disease in those contexts. “
Paramedics say they had two hundred doses of vaccine.
“There’s a lot of stigma to queue up and sit down to get vaccinated with others who may not perceive your situation,” said Alyssa Skan, program director at cornerstone homeless shelter in Oshawa.
Skan says it’s for other homeless people to get vaccinated, not only to protect themselves, but also to keep shelters running. Cornerstone has been in an epidemic since May 12, temporarily completing facilities and preventing other consumers from accessing services.
Skan adds that despite relief in shelter capacity from 40 to 23 beds, the shelter remains “narrow,” especially in non-unusual areas. The sensible thing about that, he says that detecting the virus among homeless people has been some other major impediment in disease control in the building.
“Many of them feel rotten,” he said.
“They can’t perceive when there’s a difference in how they feel, so they look good, that’s why they’re called asymptomatic cases. “
Paramedics say they expect instances among the homeless population to start burning while serving other areas of the region like Oshawa in the coming weeks.