Oldham becomes first area in the country to give Covid-19 vaccine to homeless people

Oldham Council’s trailblazing scheme to give homeless people in the borough priority for the coronavirus vaccine is now officially underway.

It’s become the first area in the entire UK to launch a scheme like this, with the council and local GPs teaming up to help protect rough sleepers and people in shelters from Covid-19.

They used the Depaul UK homeless shelter as a vaccination centre to administer the jabs, with the shelter being transformed yesterday, Wednesday January 13th.

So far about 30 people have received the vaccine, with more planned over the coming days.

The Oldham councillor responsible for health and social care, Dr Zahid Chauhan, explained why the council had added the homeless to the priority list, saying that because of their situation they have an increased risk from the virus.

He said: “It is setting an example for the rest of the country, the rest of the world, and saying: ‘Please, please don’t ignore these people’.

“These are the most extremely vulnerable people, the life expectancy is 43, 45, there is a reason why their life expectancy is so low.

“We can protect them, and if they catch Covid they become ill and if they become ill, that’s where you end up in hospitals, if you are lucky, your hospital beds go, your ICU beds go.”

Dr Chauhan added: “So it makes absolute sense from all directions to actually vaccinate these people and I’m still requesting the government, please consider again, it is my plea to you, these are extremely vulnerable people. Please put them in a priority group.

“That’s the right thing to do. That’s the human thing to do.”

Local councils across the country are being asked to ‘redouble their efforts’ to accommodate homeless people during lockdown by the government, due to both rising infection rates and the harsh winter temperatures.