Vaccination sites set for homeless neighbors

In recent weeks, San Francisco has opened vaccination sites in neighborhoods that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Next, the city hopes to bring vaccines directly to homeless people.

When it has enough vaccines, San Francisco will start a mobile program to vaccinate some of its 17,000 homeless people, according to Dr. Deborah Borne, who is overseeing San Francisco’s vaccine rollout to people experiencing homelessness. It could happen as early as next week.

Currently, mass vaccination sites at both the Moscone Center and City College are closed due to lack of vaccination supply.

Borne said the city plans to visit and vaccinate all residents at a permanent supportive housing location where 40% to 50% of the people are over 65, a congregate site and possibly also a shelterinplace site. She did not specify the locations.

Borne said the city also allows individuals who are homeless to get vaccinated at dropin sites for specific neighborhoods throughout the city, but she could not say how much of the

homeless population has already been vaccinated through these dropin sites.

The state is restricting who can get vaccines because of limited supply. Under its most recently updated guidelines, only people 65 and older, health care workers and longterm care residents are allowed to get vaccinated, with workers in agriculture and food, emergency care and education becoming eligible on Feb. 24.

Although Borne told The Chronicle on Wednesday that the city aimed to offer vaccinations soon to even people under 65 who are homeless, the city said Thursday that it would remain within state guidelines — and was awaiting further clarification from the state on vaccinations for people without homes.

“Our mobile strategy will be tailored to populations with high rates of COVID19 illness, hospitalizations and death and with structural barriers to getting vaccine,” a spokesperson said. “As we test these operations, we will do so in accordance with the state’s guidelines.”

One factor the city considered regarding mass vaccination of its homeless population was the viability of returning to give people their second dose.

A spokesperson for the city said Wednesday: “We do not withhold vaccine from someone we think might be unlikely to get their second dose. ... It’s better to do one than none at all even if it’s a twodose regimen.”

Berkeley, which also has a sizable homeless population, is likewise gearing up to start mass vaccinations for its homeless population after getting the goahead from the state over the weekend, according to Lisa Warhuus, Berkeley’s director of Health, Housing and Community Services.

“The state is aware that we have a large, unhoused and vulnerable population that we need to protect through an equity lens and has let us know that we may move forward given where we are in Tier 1B. Vaccine is allocated to jurisdictions, including the city of Berkeley, on a weekly basis, and so we don’t always know from week to week how much we will receive,” she said.

“That said, we intend to set aside a portion that will allow us to vaccinate all unhoused members who want to be vaccinated over a period of several weeks. We are prioritizing based upon individual health status, and settings (i.e. congregate living vs. less congregate).”

Warhuus told The Chronicle that Berkeley will work with shelters, respite sites, Alameda County and other partners to develop a plan that “involves building trust and implementing mobile vaccinations.”

She said the city hopes to be able to move forward with the plan by “early to midMarch.”