Homeless population in Waterloo area hit hard by Delta variant

Waterloo Region is grappling with a continued surge of COVID-19 infections bolstered by the highly infectious Delta variant — and the homeless population has experienced the brunt of the outbreak.

While Waterloo has not specified which congregate settings have had an outbreak, it’s listed them as the source of 94 cases, by far the largest source of infections in the region. The region told the Star about a dozen congregate sites make up the outbreak, and it’s not considered over.

But to get infections under control, Waterloo Region needs to ramp up its strategy with those who use the shelter system and provide further resources to shelters, as more vaccines coming in won’t be enough without a targeted approach that convinces the population to take it, said Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious disease doctor at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton.

The region’s medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said the shelter population has been prioritized from the start of the vaccine rollout. But the homeless are vulnerable and will need extra supports to ensure the two-dose vaccine regimen is followed through, health experts and shelter workers said.

“If it’s not being dealt with aggressively, it’s going to get out of control faster than the vaccines can put it back into control,” said Chagla.

On Thursday the province announced it will provide mobile teams to run pop-up clinics in hot spot neighbourhoods, and two teams with trailers and tents will arrive in the region next week and remain for two weeks.

In recent weeks, there have been a number of social gatherings that weren’t recommended and that, combined with the Delta variant, has caused the cases to spike and hit vulnerable populations, said Wang.

Waterloo prioritized the homeless early on in the vaccine rollout and worked with community partners, but it can be difficult to convince people to receive a shot, said Wang. She said that 83 per cent of the region’s cases are unimmunized people and 14 per cent are partially vaccinated.

Cases in the region have been

rising since June 3 and continue to spike as the provincial average has sharply declined amid widespread vaccine coverage. As of Friday, Waterloo had a seven-day moving average of 10.9 cases per 100,000 — about four times the province’s average of 2.7 cases.

Ontario sped up second doses as of Wednesday in the region as well as Halton, Durham, Wellington-DufferinGuelph and Porcupine, and it added Hamilton, Durham and Simcoe Muskoka on Thursday. Toronto and Peel have already been prioritized. In those regions, those vaccinated May 30 or earlier with a first dose can now receive a second dose.

Elizabeth Clarke, the CEO of the YW Kitchener-Waterloo, which provides community services including shelters for women and their children, said COVID hadn’t hit the shelter system in the region to this degree before.

In their shelter, they’ve had 18 positive client cases and two positive staff cases, she said, but no new cases in the past week.

Waterloo received vaccinations later than other regions because it wasn’t dealing with the brunt of COVID in the province, so there’s some catching up to do in vaccinating the population including those who are homeless, said Clarke.

Things should improve now that the focus is on the shelter system, she said.

To better target the homeless population, Stacey Bricknell, the primary nurse practitioner at the Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre, and her team are going to where people are living and eating to offer vaccination outside of the shelter system. Lately it’s been challenging to find people who are not already unwell, she said.

“We really have to use the relationships we have with this population to try to educate and encourage people to have immunization,” she said.

In March, those in emergency shelters were offered first doses and they had a decent supply, but the homeless population is vulnerable and requires further connections from community organizations to be convinced, she said.

Bricknell is reminding the homeless population that the shot could help ease the restrictions they have faced.

“This has had a significant impact on the homeless population in terms of the spaces where they congregate, a lot of them have been closed,” she said.

“A lot of folks would like to see a return to normal life.”