Homeless roll up sleeves for vaccine
Christian Villeneuve steeled his resolve Tuesday for a moment one of his friends didn't live to see.
Clutching his health information form, he inched his way through a lineup of homeless Montrealers ready to roll up their sleeves to receive the vaccine against the coronavirus.
Villeneuve, 42, said he knows several people who have contracted COVID -19 within the last few months. Most survived. But one didn't make it.
“I'm nervous. But it's preferable to get it than not have it,” he said. “I hope it helps.”
And with that, Villeneuve became one of about 240 Montrealers — including roughly 200 vulnerable people who populate the city's homeless shelters and 40 frontline workers who provide them with services — to receive their first dose of the Pfizer Biontech shot.
Montreal is one of the first cities in North America to launch a large-scale program to vaccinate the homeless. While places like Boston and Vancouver have put this at-risk demographic high on their priority lists, Montreal, with Quebec's blessing, acted swiftly to get needles in arms.
Incredibly, it only took about a week from request to execution, said Fiona Crossling, CEO of Accueil Bonneau.
“We were just really thrilled that they heeded that. They took it into account and they included us,” she said. “We're just happy that a week later, we're actually rolling it out.”
Even as supplies run scarce and questions are being raised about how soon reinforcements to give the second dose are coming, Crossling said the move is crucial to contain community spread and avoid added strain on the shelter and health systems.
“First of all, it's the right thing to do to care for the most vulnerable. Secondly, they're mobile, so they're moving around,” she said. “And third, they typically have significant health issues. So if they get sick, it's going to be really much more difficult. They can't isolate at home and get better with some hot soup.”
Samuel Watts, CEO of the Welcome Hall Mission, said the powers that be, from junior health minister Lionel Carmant to Mayor Valérie Plante, backed the plan put forward by the community organizations — even as Quebec and Montreal traded barbs Tuesday over whether the homeless should be exempt from a nightly provincial curfew and whether the city is getting enough resources for shelter beds.
“When everybody lines up, then it becomes easier to make the machinery work,” Watts said.
The Grand Quai down at the Old Port is normally a conference centre where the city unveils budgets and corporations hold their annual meetings. It's now being used as an emergency day centre for the city's homeless, who rest on plastic deck chairs strategically placed two metres apart. Tuesday it was transformed into a mobile vaccination clinic.
Watts said about 110 coupons for appointments were handed out the previous day at Hotel Place Dupuis, which has been converted into an overnight emergency shelter. But he said he expected some of the skeptics to join in as they saw so many others getting inoculated.
“You have a certain amount of positive peer pressure, and I think that's good,” he said.
Claude Plourde, who has been
homeless for over three years, jumped at the chance to get the vaccine.
“I'm very eager for this,” said Plourde, 63. “As soon as I heard I could, I was relieved. It's very much appreciated.”
Felice Tursi, who usually spends his days on the streets of Little Italy with his brother, was also grateful. He said they do their best to follow public health advice by wearing masks and not gathering with others. But he said their precarious situation makes it hard.
“I'm happy, honestly,” Tursi said. “It's very good that they're doing something like this. I'm proud of the organizations.”
Stéphane Collard cradled a small chihuahua outfitted in a red plaid vest named Papillon. Collard fell into homelessness for the first time a week ago after “a family crisis.” He said it's “a relief ” to be able to get vaccinated given all his other struggles.
The vaccination campaign is a ray of hope in otherwise dark times for those living on Montreal's
margins. While prompt action spared Montreal's homeless from the worst of the pandemic's first wave, an outbreak has infected at least 172 itinerants and crisis workers since mid December. Meanwhile an 8 p.m. curfew imposed by the Quebec government has underscored the lack of places for the homeless to take refuge — and the lack of permanent housing.
This all converged in unspeakable tragedy Sunday when Raphaël André, a 51-year-old Innu man, was found dead inside a portable toilet at Milton St. and Parc Ave., steps from the Open Door shelter. The facility where André was a regular had been closed due to a serious outbreak and only allowed to reopen during the day.
“It breaks my heart that we lost the guy the other night,” lamented Watts. “It was systemic failure. The system failed and we lost somebody.”
But on days like Tuesday, the system sometimes works, too.