Interior Health vaccinates remainder of Kamloops homeless population

KAMLOOPS — As vaccines ramp up across Interior Health, including in Kamloops, the last of the street-entrenched and vulnerable population received the COVID vaccine on Friday (Mar. 19).

Interior Health street nurses inoculated about 20 people at the Crossroads Inn on Seymour Street, one of the final such clinics available to the vulnerable population.

Interior Health says about 300 homeless and low-income people have received their first doses, while 150 frontline staff at social agencies have been given the shot.

“We’re doing fairly extensive testing in this population and we did see higher numbers of COVID rates, so we worked with our leadership and thought it was important to vaccinate this population quite quickly,” noted Interior Health Clinical Operations Manager for Mental Health and Substance Use Rae Samson. “This has been a really good example of leveraging existing relationships, trusted relationships, with providers and being able to get the population to come in for vaccines.”

With the street population being officially vaccinated, it’s a huge relief for agencies like ASK Wellness. When the pandemic first started a year ago, ASK had feared some of the homeless would be significantly impacted by COVID. There has been one outbreak at a homeless shelter, but now they’re being vaccinated, the situation should improve.

“This success has been a reflection of the partnership that has been longstanding between Interior Health and ASK Wellness. It seemed easy for us to mobilize and put together these kind of pop-up clinics and the result has been absolutely profound,” said ASK Wellness executive director Bob Hughes.

“I think we’ve just about reached every person that wanted the vaccine within the homeless population, and at-risk, obviously living at the Crossroads or some of the other buildings. It’s been a great opportunity to show that partnership between our two organizations.”