TIRUCHY: Rains lashing the city over the past few days have meant a struggle for shelter for the homeless. With many of them unvaccinated, the homeless camp in large numbers under bridges and at bus shelters, flouting Covid-19 norms. This raised concerns about the spread of Coronavirus.
The New Indian Express in its edition dated November 8, 2021 had reported the issue. The article, 'Concerns 'rain' about virus spread among homeless' caught the attention of officials, and the city Corporation on Monday started a vaccination drive covering the street dwellers.
"We administered the vaccine to a few street dwellers at Tiruchy railway junction and other areas. We took their photos and collected the details like where they usually camp, etc. to ensure that they do not miss their second jab," said Dr A Mohamed Hakkim, vaccination coordinator of the Corporation.
Further, officials said that their team would take necessary steps to ensure vaccination of more such people. "We are trying our best to ensure the vaccination of as many people as possible. The health team will take steps to ensure that those who received the shot do not miss the second jab," a Corporation official said.
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Officials, however, admitted it to being a tough task to ensure 100 per cent vaccination among street dwellers. "It is difficult to administer vaccines to those who are not willing to take them. But we will ensure vaccines to those who are ready to take the jab," a senior officer said.
The Corporation's move has come in for appreciation among residents. "The infection among the homeless can result in the spread of the virus as many of them would travel to various places. Therefore, it is good that the Corporation has commenced vaccination for them. But there should be some system to make their vaccination status available for health officials in the State. Otherwise, even if they claim that they took the vaccine, they would not be able to substantiate it," said Karthik Raghavan, a resident of Woraiyur.