KANSAS CITY, Mo. — People experiencing homelessness are now eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine under Kansas and Missouri's current eligibility phases.
A local organization is concerned much of the homeless population not living in shelters will slip through the cracks.
K.K. Assmann, founder of Care Beyond the Boulevard, said her organization is happy to administer vaccine doses to the people it serves.
Her volunteers are made up of health care professionals.
The organization also uses an electronic health record system to provide basic health care on a daily basis.
"Our physicians, our nurse practitioners and our nurses are more than willing to provide that service to anyone who wants it, we just need the vaccine," Assmann said.
Assmann is worried about the people her organization serves getting the protection they need from the vaccines.
"What we're seeing is that people who are on the streets are by and far not getting the vaccine, they don't have access to social media," Assmann said.
Her solution is to let organizations like hers be the ones to administer vaccines.
They've already put in the time and work to form important relationships.
"People who are experiencing homelessness often times have a little bit of a trust issue when it comes to health care organizations, we have built that trust because we're out here every week, we go to the people," Assmann said.
She's not had any luck after she reached out to several hospitals and clinics to try to get vaccines.
It's a different story for people experiencing homelessness who are staying in a shelter.
Eric Burger, executive director of Shelter KC, said the majority of people staying there are vaccinated.
"Hopefully, vaccination will be able to bring us back to serve more people and serve people who have not been feeling comfortable to even live communally and that way we can give them the services they need," Burger said.
Now, his organization is helping people living on the streets navigate the appointment system.
Burger said it will take time to reach herd immunity among the homeless population.
"Getting the whole population connected is going to be an ongoing and long-term thing," Burger said.
41 Action News reached out to the Kansas City, Missouri Health Department and the Jackson County Health Department to see if there are any plans in the works to vaccinate people experiencing homelessness.
We did not receive responses.
