Vaccine hesitancy lingers in Vancouver Island homeless communities amid COVID-19 outbreaks

Some street people are still hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine as multiple Island cities deal with outbreaks in homeless communities.

Nicole Ladouceur, an outreach worker in Nanaimo, says she is becoming increasingly worried about those she’s trying to help because many remain unvaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

“It’s not due to them not being offered it. They are. We’ve even offered to transport clients to places to get their shots,” said Ladouceur, who works for the John Howard Society Nanaimo Region.

Some who haven’t got a shot in Nanaimo are among say it’s because they don’t trust that the vaccine is safe.

“Everybody I’ve known who’s gotten it has gotten sicker than they were before,” said one man who lives on the street.

Some believe the vaccine was created to wipe out the homeless population while others say their most pressing concern is not COVID-19, but where they’re going to sleep the next night.

Either way, convincing those on the street to get the shot may be a challenge.

“I haven’t seen a single person get it. Not one,” said one unvaccinated and unhoused woman.

It’s an issue health officials have been monitoring as outbreaks are hitting homeless people hard in a number of B.C. communities including Victoria, Duncan, and Nanaimo. But maintaining enough places for those testing positive with COVID-19 to isolate has been difficult.

“That has been a challenge in a way that has not been in the last year because many of the places where people were being supported to isolate are now back in commercial operations whether they’re motels, hotels et cetera,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s provincial health officer.

B.C.’s top doctor says the province is looking at ways to increase vaccination among the unhoused in part because if they do contract COVID-19, they often face harsher health outcomes.

“This a population that’s quite varied but many have underlying illnesses that make them more at risk for hospitalization and we are seeing the impacts of that in hospitals,” said Henry on Tuesday.

khanson@cheknews.ca

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