Doctors take vaccines to homeless and hostels
COVID jabs have been given to more than 100 homeless people in the city, thanks to a GP practice working with “harder to reach” communities.
A mobile van was pitched in a car park this weekend and those without permanent accommodation were invited to attend their first Covid-19 vaccine doses.
Medics have also visited hostels including the Dawn Centre and Mayfield, as well as some of the city hotels being used to provide temporary accommodation, to inject those staying there.
Wayne Henderson, director and nurse at Inclusion Health Care, said: “We recognise this might be a contentious issue but Covid can affect anyone and its impact has been and is still being felt by everyone.
“Until we are all rid of Covid it will remain an issue for everyone. The priority is to get all the most vulnerable vaccinated first and some of the people on our patient lists come into that category.”
Teams from the city surgery, which has two patient lists – homeless people and asylum seekers – totalling 2,500 people, also set up at a support centre early one morning so they could offer jabs to rough sleepers.
Wayne said: “Originally, the homeless community was not included in the priority groups identified by the Government but as time has gone on and due to some campaigning at a national level we are able to offer vaccinations to people who are homeless or sleeping rough.
“In the same way care homes are vulnerable, hostels and temporary accommodation are. If there was an outbreak in one of those settings it would be very hard to manage because you have lots of people living in close proximity.
“The majority of people have been happy to be offered and have the vaccine.
“It’s similar to the wider general picture – there are some people who don’t want it but most people we have offered it to have had it.”
This weekend, the team will again borrow the Safer Leicester Partnership’s van to take doses of the vaccine to those living in smaller temporary accommodation units and emergency housing.