People experiencing homelessness who rely on the Lighthouse Soup Kitchen and Shelter as well as shelter staff and volunteers took part in a mobile Moderna COVID-19 vaccine clinic at an Orillia hotel on Tuesday afternoon.
The clinic was held in partnership with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and the Paramedic Services of Simcoe County.
Officials say 55 people - including people living at the Lighthouse, staff and shelter volunteers - received the vaccine on Tuesday.
Linda Goodall, the executive director of the Lighthouse, says everyone involved was thankful for the opportunity.
“To be able to offer this to the staff and volunteers who are working the front line is so valuable,” Goodall said.
“Participants are grateful because they may not be able to get the vaccine if we didn’t bring it to them.”
Goodall says the vaccine clinic was necessary and important to make sure vulnerable people in Orillia had a fair chance to receive the vaccine.
“Some people find it difficult to get to the Rotary Place, so we wanted to bring a mobile clinic to them,” she said.
Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke stopped into the clinic on Tuesday afternoon. He says the initiative to get Lighthouse participants, staff, and volunteers vaccinated is “wonderful.”
“Some of our more vulnerable folks don’t have the wherewithal to get to a vaccination centre, so this initiative is really great,” Clarke said.
“This is only effective, and we can only get through this when we are all vaccinated, so I really commend the county, the paramedics, and the Lighthouse for setting this up. It’s a great example of teamwork and something that is necessary," noted the mayor.
Shelter worker David Warner was one of the Lighthouse staff members who received his vaccine on Tuesday. He said it is the least he can do to help conquer COVID-19.
“I want to do what I can to follow government guidelines, they have a lot of experts that are recommending that we do it,” Warner said.
Warner is happy to see that the vulnerable population and the people who look after them are not being forgotten when it comes to being vaccinated.
“I think it’s a neat initiative that we are doing to be able to protect people who are vulnerable,” he said.
