Dr. Jessie Gaeta, chief medical officer of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, says while she and her colleagues are seeing vaccine hesitancy across the board — and they expected it — it's most pronounced among Black people in the shelters.
"There is no viable substitution to sanitary pads or tampons, said Melinda Thomas, associate medical director of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, because those hygiene products are specifically developed to absorb large volumes of blood."
“It’s important for folks who have been vaccinated to share their experiences,” said Barbara Giles, a nurse and COO with the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. “We’re hoping shared personal experiences will help the process.”
Successful vaccine rollouts among homeless populations have occurred for other disease outbreaks as well. When a meningococcal outbreak hit Boston's homeless shelters in 2016, advocates and officials responded swiftly. In a six-week period, Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, led by President Jim O'Connell, vaccinated more than 3,600 people, roughly half of the city's entire homeless population.
In three days, Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) has vaccinated close to 200 shelter guests and nearly 150 staff members at the city's three biggest overnight emergency shelters — the public men's and women's shelters run by Boston Public Health Commission and Pine Street Inn. There are about 2,000 people staying in Boston shelters who are 18 or older and approximately 1,500 shelter staffers eligible for the vaccine, according to BHCHP, which says it's aiming to offer first doses to all of those people by the end of February.
Dr. Jim O’Connell, president of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, said the Pine Street Inn has about 400 people staying at its shelter, and those most at risk will be prioritized.
Dr. Jim O’Connell, president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, said that living outdoors carries severe health risks, but that right now, given the potential for transmission of COVID-19 indoors, “allowing the encampments to be is probably safer during these immediate times."
Olivia Allison, a care coordinator at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program who works with Welcome Home to provide goods for newly housed individuals, said she was nervous at the beginning of the stay at home order that many organizations were working entirely remotely. But when she emailed Welcome Home about providing items for one of her clients, they were able to fulfill the request with curbside pickup.
