Advocates: Single-shot J&J vaccine preferable for homeless

The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine offers an opportunity for people in the state working to get Connecticut’s homeless population vaccinated, advocates say, but supply still remains low.

“The Johnson & Johnson vaccine helps, obviously, by reducing two doses to one,” said David Gonzalez Rice, senior program manager at the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a relative newcomer to the state’s coronavirus vaccine framework. This week, the state expects to receive only about 4,200 doses, with another 1,300 doses going to pharmacies.

“J&J received federal emergency use authorization just a few weeks ago and its supplies are limited at the moment,” said Maura Fitzgerald, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health. “The federal government decides how many doses each state gets of each vaccine. We have no control over the amount of J&J we are given, though we do anticipate that our supply will increase in the coming weeks.”

Perhaps because of the timeframe, plans for using this vaccine to reach the homeless population are still in their infancy.

“Conversations about whether and how to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine really kicked off two or three weeks ago among the state partners,” Gonzalez Rice said.

Those doses have not yet been specifically allocated to Connecticut’s homeless population, though Steve DiLella, director of the individual and family support program unit at the state’s Department of Housing, said the value of such a plan is obvious.

“With a population that kind of moves around a lot, a one shot vaccine obviously makes a lot of sense,” he said.

Fitzgerald said that as the supplies of various vaccines increases, different vaccines may be allocated for different purposes.

“Moving forward, as our supply from the federal government increases to meet or exceed our demand, we may determine that some vaccines, like the one dose J&J that doesn't require special storage and handling, can best be utilized to vaccine harder to reach populations, like homeless or homebound individuals,” she said.

Up until recently, plans to vaccinate Connecticut’s homeless population against COVID had centered around shelters.

“We, in the beginning days of the pandemic, totally understood that COVID could spread quite rapidly within a congregate living setting,”

DiLella said. “At that point in time, it was OK to really think about having a two dose vaccine. Because when you're thinking about the shelter population, you're much more likely to have a little bit more stability in that shelter situation. Folks are more likely to stay.”

The strategy had been to “deconcentrate” homeless shelters, moving families out of congregate living situations into hotel rooms around the state.

But as the pandemic has continued, the strategy has shifted.

“Now, as we have been successful with the shelter in the hotel population, we really are turning our sights toward the unsheltered population where I think the one vaccine will certainly be a big advantage,” DiLella said. “So we also are hoping that the supply of Johnson & Johnson does increase as we create plans to do this.”

Those plans might center around mobile vaccination units.

“Just a couple of weeks ago, some of my colleagues within the state agencies started conversations about identifying locations where mobile vans could reach people who are not staying in shelter for one reason or another,” said Gonzalez Rice. “Maybe a soup kitchen, maybe a community clinic, and trying to put together a plan.”