Shelters struggle to vaccinate Pittsburgh s homeless washingtontimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtontimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Courtesy of Light of Life Rescue Mission
Light of Life Rescue Mission debuted a new space on Pittsburgh’s North Side on Feb. 24.
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Light of Life Rescue Mission had a vaccine clinic planned to help vaccinate homeless people earlier this month. The shelter, which operates short- and long-term programs for the homeless, as well as addiction recovery and employment assistance, planned to administer the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Then, about three hours before the April 13 event was supposed to start, news broke that use of the vaccine had been paused.
Gerald Herbert | AP
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Pittsburgh Mercy just received enough vaccine supply to offer free doses to several hundred people this weekend at its clinic on Pittsburgh’s South Side, officials announced Wednesday.
Vaccine doses will be distributed between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday.
Workers will be providing the first dose of the two-dose Moderna vaccine. Recipients will be guaranteed a second dose when they return about 28 days later.
At Saturday’s clinic, only those 18 and older can receive doses. Masks will be required and wait times are expected to be minimal.
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Katie Blackley / 90.5 WESA
The ongoing pandemic coupled with the arrival of winter this week is putting additional strain on people experiencing homelessness and the shelters that serve them.
Dr. Jim Withers, founder and medical director of Pittsburgh Mercy’s Operation Safety Net, said COVID-19 has been a disaster on top of a chronic disaster for people who live outside, especially during colder weather.
“COVID has been a tremendous stress on them not just as a direct health threat but also disrupting the services they depend upon, “ Withers said.
Withers said since shelters have had to reduce capacity due to the pandemic, access to health care, food and rehabilitation services has been impacted.