On Thursday, Durham Health set up a mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the McLean’s Community Centre in Ajax to focus exclusively on vaccinating individuals experiencing homelessness in western Durham.
Durham Region Transit and additional community partners drove those who are precariously housed to the clinic. Clients were vetted by local organizations like the Ajax Hygeine Hub and the Salvation Army prior to being dropped off at the site.
“We wanted to provide an environment that’s low-barrier, they can come if they want to get the vaccine, we answer their questions, do some health teaching and also provide them vaccines if they want it,” said John Riches, Durham’s deputy chief of paramedic services.
“There are barriers to their health care and they might be staying in shelters overnight that are considered congregate settings. We want to make sure we do what we can to control the disease spread in those settings.”
Paramedics say they had a supply of 200 doses of the vaccine.
“There’s just a lot of stigma of going and standing in line and sitting down to get your vaccination with people who might not really understand your situation,” said Alyssa Skan, program director at homeless shelter Cornerstone in Oshawa.
Skan says it’s crucial for homeless individuals to get vaccinated, not only to protect themselves, but to keep shelters up and running. Cornerstone has been in an outbreak since May 12, which has temporarily shut down the facility and has prevented additional clients from accessing services.
Skan adds despite the shelter cutting its bed capacity from 40 to 23, the shelter remains ‘cramped,’ especially in common areas. In addition to this, she says screening the homeless for the virus has been another major hurdle in managing the disease in the building.
“A lot of them, they feel rotten a lot of the time,” she said.
“They can’t actually understand when there’s a difference in what they’re feeling, so they’re screening fine, so they’re being called asymptomatic cases.”
Paramedics say they hope cases among the homeless population will begin to dissipate as they service different areas of the region like Oshawa in the upcoming weeks.