Sudbury's first COVID-19 vaccine clinic for unhoused community members offers peace of mind

The City of Greater Sudbury held its first vaccination clinic on Sunday for people experiencing homelessness or using emergency shelters in the community.

This comes after the province announced earlier in March that the homeless population was being prioritized in Phase 2 of its vaccine rollout. 

The clinic was held at the Sudbury Arena, where people facing precarious housing situations stood in line to roll up their sleeves and receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

It's no secret that the cold of winter can be especially biting for those without a place to rest their head at night. And this year, the winter months were made even more gruelling for Sudbury's homeless by the added challenges of COVID-19. 

For some of the city's unhoused, like Stephen Ellis, Sunday's vaccination clinic brought a dose of hope. He first heard about the clinic on Saturday. 

"I feel awesome," he said. "I feel good, I'm like right on, I got my shot, I can get on with my day, you know, less worry about catching it now." 

While there are murmurs of hesitancy toward the vaccine within the community, Ellis said for the most part people are eager to be immunized. 

"People are saying they want to go get it, you know, everyone I heard wants to go get it." 

I'm very hopeful. I'm really glad that this is happening, we know how vulnerable our population is out there. They need all the protection they can get.— Raymond Landry, Homelessness Network in Greater Sudbury

 "You can tell by the amount of people that are homeless, that are here right now, they want to get it. They don't want to die, they're already having a rough enough time as it its. They're happy to come and get it." 

Over the past year, Ellis said it hasn't always been easy to employ health and safety measures or personal protective equipment. 

'The more people are vaccinated ... the better'

"Sometimes you don't have money and that, and your addictions and everything so you don't go buy the proper stuff," Ellis said, "It's just crazy." 

Ken Davis who's been unhoused for several years, was enthusiastic about receiving the shot. He said seeing others within the homeless community get the vaccine offered him some peace of mind. 

"If you're seeing people get vaccinated at least you can approach and not worry and kinda talk, knowing the more people are vaccinated ... the better," Davis said. 

"You don't have to be worried as much when you're sitting on a bus wondering or standing beside somebody. Yeah, it means a lot." 

Raymond Landry, is with the Homelessness Network in Greater Sudbury. The organization was working in conjunction with the city to deliver the clinic. He said about 72 vaccines were made available for Sunday's clinic. 

"The committee is working on trying to get that second dose within the 28-day range. If we have to wait the four-month length of time it will be a challenge," he said. 

Landry said being forced to wait longer to administer the second dose could present make it trickier in getting people back for another dose. However he's confident that the organization's connection in the community is strong enough to encourage people to return. 

"I'm very hopeful. I'm really glad that this is happening, we know how vulnerable our population is out there. They need all the protection they can get."

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