Melissa Kalensky, DNP, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, CNE, discusses her dual practice as a shelter-based care NP and an assistant professor at Rush University in Chicago.
Frederics has since recovered, but the experience was a driving force in his decision to get vaccinated.
“When the opportunity presented itself, I jumped on it,” he said. “I didn’t want to go through that again.”
Frederics is a resident at The Boulevard of Chicago, an organization in East Garfield Park that provides services to people experiencing homelessness including COVID-19 vaccinations.
Initially, many homeless people were eager to roll up their sleeves when the vaccine became available to them in late January, according to advocates.
“People really wanted the vaccine. They were incredibly grateful. They don’t have anything, and they never thought they’d be seen,” said Mary Tornabene, a nurse practitioner and project manager at Heartland Alliance Health, which provides services to shelters throughout the city and has held more than 100 pop-up vaccination events. To date, Heartland has administered more than 7,500 vaccines in Chicago.
Mengshin Lin/Sun-Times
Thanks to partnerships with the Chicago Department of Public Health, distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to homeless shelters has become a citywide priority.
Over 2,200 initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to homeless residents and shelter staff across the city, according to city officials Tuesday afternoon at Pacific Garden Mission, a homeless shelter in the Near West Side.
“We want people experiencing homelessness to know that they are a priority for the city and their health matters,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.
“We want people experiencing homelessness to know that they are a priority for the city and their health matters,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, on Tuesday at Pacific Garden Mission.
Homeless Chicagoans are receiving COVID-19 vaccines as part of a city strategy to aggressively reduce transmission of the virus and work toward an equitable distribution of the vaccine, city officials said.