The City of Windsor is moving to vaccinate the local homeless population against COVID-19.
The province has directed the city to begin vaccinating the homeless population Wednesday morning.
The vaccine will be administered at the Windsor International Aquatic Centre, which has been operating as a temporary homeless shelter.
Mayor Drew Dilkens told AM800's The Morning Drive they hope to have all the vaccinations finished by the end of the day.
"We understand that it's difficult when we tell people to stay at home, when you don't have a home, it's difficult to comply with that," says Dilkens. "So the province has recognized the challenges faced by the homeless population and they've directed us to vaccinate all persons experiencing homelessness as a priority."
The Windsor International Aquatic Centre (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
He says Windsor is pretty much in the same situation as communities across Canada.
"A number of communities across the province and throughout Canada have seen outbreaks amongst their population of people experiencing homelessness," he says. "So this is a way to help vaccinate them, everyone needs a vaccine, they do as well. We'll get that in their arms today and hopefully give them some immunity."
A number of COVID-19 outbreaks within the homeless population have been identified over the past few weeks which have impacted the Downtown Mission and the Salvation Army.
- with files from AM800's Rob Hindi