Homeless people in Dublin will be given Covid vaccines next week

It’s been reported that homeless people in Dublin will now start receiving the Covid-19 vaccine from next week.

From next Monday, high-risk single people living in hostels across the city will be brought to a facility in Dublin City centre, with transportation organised by the Dublin Fire Brigade, and administered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

There are approximately 3,000 homeless people in Dublin city along with hundreds more living in long-term accommodation provided by various charities such as Focus Ireland and the Peter McVerry Trust. 

This new vaccine rollout has been put in place as the HSE understands that it would be particularly difficult for those vulnerable people without a fixed home or permanent residence to be contacted regarding a vaccine appointment.

While they initially wanted to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to its single-dose convenience, delays with that vaccine meant that the HSE have now earmarked 700 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to start with instead.

A spokesperson for Focus Ireland commented that this new initiative is “a massively positive step forward in the fight against Covid.”

“Focus Ireland’s approach is to continue to follow public health advice and encourage both frontline staff and people who are homeless to avail of the vaccine at the earliest opportunity. We all have our part to play in this programme and it is a very positive development.”