“The struggle (homeless people) go through every day to survive, on the streets or in the shelters, has a real immediacy to it,” said Dr. Jim O’Connell, president of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP).
“A one-dose vaccine that is highly effective will be more easily administered to people experiencing homelessness,” said Dr. Jessie Gaeta, chief medical officer at the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, in a text. “It’s helpful to avoid the need for second doses when people have to necessarily move around frequently, don’t have stable housing or a reliable address or phone number.”
Dr. Jessie Gaeta, the chief medical officer of Boston Health Care for the Homeless, said social distancing efforts of the COVID-19 pandemic mean that many shelters have been “appropriately decongested,” with their residents moved into hotels, gymnasiums and other spaces.
The program’s leadership and staff began a robust screening and testing regimen at all Boston area shelters and locations where it provides care, and drew on its deep experience in contact-tracing a population that is constantly on the move.
In her work with the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP), Massachusetts General Hospital dermatologist Jennifer Tan, MD, sees patients hit with the double whammy of homelessness and a pandemic.
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.
