Posted: May 25, 2021 5:15 PM AT | Last Updated: May 25
The North End Community Health Centre estimates that 150 or 200 homeless people, still need to be vaccinated against Covid-19. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
Hundreds of Nova Scotians living in shelters are already fully vaccinated but it s a different story for people who are outside the system and may be living on the street.
A plan is underway to get COVID-19 vaccines to some of the most vulnerable in our society, according to health officials. The next phase is reaching those that are not in the shelter system so, for us, it s a huge priority, said Marie-France LeBlanc, executive director of the North End Community Health Centre.
Posted: Mar 16, 2021 6:21 PM AT | Last Updated: March 16
The Metro Turning Point shelter in downtown Halifax. The province is rolling out mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinics at seven shelters across the Halifax area in early April.(CBC)
Mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinics will head to Halifax homeless shelters next month, which advocates say is a key strategy to meet vulnerable people wherever they are.
Jeff Karabanow, one of the founders of Out of the Cold Emergency Shelter and a professor at Dalhousie University, said since this population often has higher rates of illness or health risks, it s especially important to ensure they re vaccinated quickly.
The province decided to prioritize people without stable housing, who were originally in the “expanded access” phase. On March 16, premier Iain Rankin announced that hundreds of vaccines will soon be going to people staying in shelters in HRM. “We’ll be providing vaccine early April to about 300 people in the Halifax area who are in homeless shelters,” he said at Tuesday’s regular COVID-19 briefing with top doc Robert Strang. “We’ll also offer vaccine to people who work and volunteer in these shelters.” According to the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia there are an estimated 421 unhoused people living in HRM, 329 of whom are defined as “chronically homeless,” meaning it’s been more than six months.
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