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NYC Faces Another COVID Challenge: Vaccinating The Homeless
By
Mirela Iverac
Published Jan 21, 2021
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Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Shutterstock
By
Mirela Iverac
Published Jan 21, 2021
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In addition to healthcare workers, people over 65, police, firefighters, and teachers, another critical population became eligible last week for coronavirus vaccines: Homeless people at high risk for infection.
New York State issued guidelines that said, starting last Monday, those who live in shelters “where sleeping, bathing or eating accommodations must be shared with individuals and families who are not part of the same household,” plus the staffers who work in these places, could get vaccinated.
That description includes shelters for single adults, where eight to 12 people on average share a room, as well as the hotels where many homeless individuals have been moved in recent months, according to service providers who’ve been briefed by the city’s Department of Homeless Services. Families with children who reside in shelters are not eligible, because they live in separate units and don’t share dining areas as people in hotels do.
The Department of Homeless Services and City Hall did not respond to repeated requests for comment and would not say how many homeless New Yorkers have been vaccinated over the past week. But based on the criteria outlined by the state, 18,000 single adults living in shelters could be eligible.
The city has opened one vaccination hub in a shelter specifically for the homeless population and is planning on adding several more, according to an official. DHS has also been distributing flyers in dorm-style shelters that advise clients they can sign up for vaccine appointments at sites that are open to the general public.
“You can begin signing up for vaccination appointments immediately,” the flyer reads. “This is an exciting moment in our efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Michael Varnedoe, 60, who’s currently homeless and staying at a hotel in Brooklyn, said he received the info, but hasn’t read it yet.
“I'm partly blind, so I really didn't read it,” he said.
He said he was interested in getting the vaccine, but also wanted more information and reassurance that the vaccine wouldn’t have an adverse impact on his underlying diabetes and heart problems.
At the same time that New York is trying to vaccinate homeless people, it is facing an even bigger challenge: both city and state officials said they’re on track to run out of vaccine doses this week.
Giselle Routhier, policy director at the Coalition for the Homeless, said the vaccine shortage and lack of information about outreach effort to homeless clients and staff made it impossible to know if the plan would work out in the end.
“We're glad to see that DHS is planning around how to distribute the vaccine to our clients,” she told Gothamist/WNYC. “But I think it remains to be seen how effective their process will be and then also how many folks will want to get vaccinated and how successful the process will be both for residents and for staff.”
In an email to shelter providers on Wednesday, Homeless Services Administrator Joslyn Carter wrote, “Vaccine hesitancy is a very real issue.”
She directed providers to resources from the city and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention they can use to educate staff and clients.
City Council Member Stephen Levin, who oversees homeless services as the chair of the General Welfare Committee, echoed concerns around the unknowns surrounding the city’s plan to vaccinate its homeless residents.
“We don't really know what their plans are,” he said. “It's hard to gauge how effective they'll be.”
Tagged
pandemic
coronavirus
vaccine
homeless
Mirela Iverac
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