There is a growing interest in how affordable housing and homeless service providers can help ensure residents are ready to get the COVID vaccination shot when they are eligible. An increasing number of your residents in higher-risk categories (see below) become eligible for shots this week followed by multi-generational households becoming eligible April 19.
How affordable housing organizations can help
A representative from the state and Providence Health & Services joined our February Portland Metro Policy Council meeting to share their thoughts on action steps we can take. Ideas brainstormed included helping distribute educational information about decreasing vaccine hesitancy, assisting residents with scheduling online appointments, coordinating transportation to nearby clinics, and advocating for locating vaccination clinics nearby or on site.
- Step One: Connect with your local health departments, which are leading local vaccination planning efforts, and let them know you want to help. Check out sample letter. OHA has links for more information on each county’s vaccination planning efforts.
- Step Two: Check out this vaccine workshop (see next story) taking place April 1 to learn how to boost vaccine confidence with residents. Boost Oregon offers train the trainers workshops on vaccine education and outreach efforts. Housing Oregon’s Resident Services Work Group will continue to focus on COVID-19 issues in future meetings through the spring meeting 2nd Mondays at 9:30 am. For more information and to sign up email Rosanne Marmor, LCSW at rosanne@pulsewellnesspdx.com and Brian Hoop at brian@housingoregon.org. OHCS is also leading the Statewide Oregon Unhoused Response & Recovery Network for COVID-19 and Wildfires.
- Step Three: Document tenant demographics by apartment in your county. While this was just a suggestion to help public health officials understand the need – identify what percentage of your tenants or clients are seniors, people of color, and people with disabilities (those more likely to have underlying health conditions) that will be eligible for shots sooner. You can use this Excel spreadsheet to get started.
Who is eligible and when?
Twenty Oregon counties qualified this week to begin offering COVID-19 vaccinations to expanded eligibility groups with the balance of counties starting next week, March 29. These groups include:
- Adults ages 45 to 65 with one or more underlying conditions (page 3) with increased risk
- Migrant and seasonal farm workers
- Seafood and agricultural workers
- Food processing workers
- People living in low-income, senior congregate and independent living facilities
- Sheltered and unsheltered individuals experiencing houselessness, etc.
Come April 19, eligibility expands to include all frontline workers (see page 2), multigenerational household members, and adults 16-44 with underlying conditions with increased risk. Then on May 1, all people who are 16 and older are eligible.
Additional resources
- Vaccine educational info in multiple languages – how vaccines were developed, how they protect you, diversity in COVID-19 vaccine studies, etc.
- COVID-19 Vaccine Information for Older Oregonians
- COVID-19 Vaccine Information for Frontline Workers
- COVID-19 Vaccine Information for People with Underlying Health Conditions with Increased Risk
- Transit Considerations: Bringing Clients to a COVID-19 Vaccination Event
- Oregon Health Authority COVID-19 info site
- How to sign up for vaccination
- How to Build Staff’s Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines