Our mobile COVID-19 clinic improves the vaccination rate among supportive housing residents
With the rush to get COVID-19 vaccines, finding a place to get the shot is tough. For seniors who don’t have internet access, or even their own transportation, getting vaccinated becomes a major problem. The solution? Bring the clinic to them.
At our Cecilia Murphy supportive housing apartments, we did just that. Working with East Toronto Health Partners, we held our first mobile vaccination clinic in March 2021, helping seniors and people with physical disabilities get their first shot. Together with doctors and nurses, our staff helped administer doses to nearly 100% of residents. To make it easier, some of the team even went door-to-door.
In late June, we held our second clinic at Cecilia Murphy with similar success. While anyone who missed out in March could get their first dose, most of the residents there were happy to get their second. Just ask Tootsie and Sieudah.
“We want to protect ourselves – we get the flu shot every year and we really miss seeing our children and grandchildren. Besides, we didn’t have any side effects from the first dose so we’re confident so we were confident we'd be ok with the second. And we were!"
Even beyond the health benefits, the clinic gave residents a chance to get out and chat with other people, a rare occurrence during the pandemic. With the success of the clinics, social outings for residents will soon be back to stay.