Homeless population willing to be vaccinated, but access could be improved

The homeless population in Saskatoon is not the reason for the province’s slow vaccine uptake.

Jeannie Coe, a nurse practitioner at The Lighthouse in Saskatoon, said the facility’s clients have been “really good” about wanting to get vaccinated.

“Our biggest issue is really accessibility to the vaccine,” she said.

Rather than being opposed to the shot, people in shelters or on the streets are focused on other priorities and experience different barriers to getting a vaccine.

Even though the cost of the shot itself is covered, it can be difficult to make an appointment or find a ride to get their shot, let alone repeat the process for their second.

“People that are homeless have a lot of other priorities day to day other than finding a clinic to get a vaccine in and lining up, organizing a ride, making an appointment to get there,” Coe explained. “When we reduce the barriers to access, the uptake and response has been really good.”

Coe said the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has worked with The Lighthouse in the past, orchestrating large and smaller vaccination clinic opportunities for people at the shelter to receive their vaccinations. The supply of doses brought to those events always get used.

“Clients are happy to come in and get it and appreciate very much when we can make it accessible,” Coe said.

A few people want more time to discuss the vaccine, Coe said, and a very small minority have been influenced by misleading information against the shots.

“But the majority — the vast majority — come for the vaccine when we can reduce the barriers to accessing it,” she said.

During their blitzes at The Lighthouse, Coe said about 70 per cent of people there were getting vaccinated.

“Because of the transient nature of the population and the fact that, of course, not all homeless people are here … I don’t know how to ballpark how it would apply to the homeless population in the city,” Coe said.

However, she has seen how positive the uptake can be for vaccinations when individuals have the opportunity to get it.

She said more accessibility will only increase the vaccine uptake among vulnerable populations. But if there are concerns about homeless people not being vaccinated, it’s not because they aren’t willing.

She suggests creative strategies like incentives to help reach more people who haven’t yet been vaccinated. Places like Prairie Harm Reduction have done this well, Coe said.

“I think that there is some more we can do to increase access to vaccination,” Coe said. “Logistically it’s easy. Fighting the dogma of different institutions can be hard.”