Vaccinations offer some hope amid shelter outbreaks
‘I had to do it,’ says Marven Kelly, 46, regarding his first dose
About a year ago, Marven Kelly lost his left leg to cancer. Just recently, a relative died of a drug overdose at a Hamilton shelter. Kelly, too, is homeless.
It’s a terrible time. But his first of two COVID-19 vaccinations has given him hope. And considering the risk, he didn’t hesitate to get a shot.
“I had to do it because I don’t want to catch that COVID. That’s really dangerous.”
The 46-year-old and others staying in city-booked rooms at the Four Points by Sheraton off Centennial Parkway North received their shots via a mobile clinic over the weekend.
“It was easy,” said Kelly on Monday, who has stayed at the hotel for about two weeks as he waits for housing.
Hamilton public health, Shelter Health Network and socialservice agencies launched the vaccination effort that has also included shelter workers.
Over the weekend, 250 vaccines were administered, while 90 appointments were booked Monday with roughly that many lined up for Tuesday.
The shots come during a crucial time as cases mount across Hamilton’s shelter system.
The most dire outbreak is at the Salvation Army’s Booth Centre, a shelter for men on York Boulevard that public health reported had 50 cases (39 residents and 11 staffers) on Monday.
Due to their high number, Booth Centre residents with the virus weren’t immediately sent to isolation centres for recovery but remained at the shelter in separated quarters.
But Monday, the city opened another isolation space at the Central Memorial Recreation
Centre on West Avenue South. The 30-person space complements the Bennetto Community Centre operation on Hughson Street North, which can take 25 people, and Wesley Urban Ministries on Catharine Street North, which can accommodate at least 10.
“We didn’t want a challenge where we didn’t have any isolation space at all. So we’ve opened this up as a relief,” said Paul Johnson, who leads the city’s pandemic response, during a media briefing Monday.
The “real trick” to short-circuiting coronavirus in shelters is quick isolation, Johnson said, noting the Booth Centre had “pinch points” that allowed residents with COVID-19 to be too close to those who don’t have the virus despite efforts to keep them apart.
The next highest case counts reported Monday were at Good Shepherd’s men’s shelter on
Mary Street, which had 11 (nine residents, two staffers), and Mission Services men’s shelter on James Street North, which had 10 (nine residents, one staffer).
In the women’s system, Inasmuch House, run by Mission Services, had seven cases (four residents, three staffers), while Good Shepherd’s Mary’s Place had two cases (residents) and Carole Anne’s Place, an overnight drop-in at the YWCA Hamilton, had one (a client).
So far, at least half of the residents accessing Good Shepherd’s shelters have accepted vaccinations, said chief operating officer Katherine Kalinowski.
As of noon Monday, roughly 162 of the agency’s shelter staffers had received shots out of about 270, she noted.
“This really does offer a sense that perhaps there’s some relief coming.”
At YWCA Hamilton, Medora Uppal, director of operations, said those who drop by Carole Anne’s Place, an overflow initiative amid the chronically overburdened women’s system, will be offered vaccinations, as will those in transitional-living programs.
Staff started getting shots on the weekend, she said. “We’re looking forward to more of them getting access to vaccines, hopefully this week.”