Hundreds of Cape Town’s homeless have queued to receive their vaccine jabs. The Western Cape health department has rolled out a trial in the CBD as it prepares to inoculate more homeless people.

• Hundreds of Cape Town’s homeless queued to receive their jabs on Friday morning. Vaccinees said they were grateful for the extra protection provided by the vaccine. 
• The Western Cape government aims to vaccinate 14 000 street-based residents.
• Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo and other officials visited the site as the rollout started.

Hundreds of Cape Town’s homeless people queued at 14A Roland Street in central Cape Town to receive their J&J vaccine jabs on Friday morning. The Western Cape health department rolled out a trial in the CBD as it prepares to start inoculating more of its street-based residents in the province.
It aims to vaccinate 14 000 street-based residents across the province. 
The vaccination site in the CBD is set up at The Hope Exchange, a shelter that serves the homeless and vulnerable.
Getting the jab
News24 spoke to Razaan Lucus, 49, who has been living on the street for more than 23 years.
“Thank God I never got the virus. Because if you have it, you can spread it, and I came to get the J&J vaccine. It’s for my health,” he said.
Lucus, a gardener, was encouraged to get the jab after seeing the spike in infections in Gauteng and countries like India.
Farouq Faziq has been living on the street for two years. He is also a member of the Souper Troopers programme, a nonprofit helping the homeless rebuild their lives.
READ | Covid-19: Homeless people in Cape Town take up opportunity to be jabbed
“I feel more at ease after getting the vaccine. There were a lot of misconceptions around the vaccine. Some people here said it doesn’t work and you can die from it,” he told News24.
The 37-year-old advised others to get the jab before it’s too late.
“Prevention is better than cure. You don’t want to wait and then get the virus because you might not make it.”
Increase the rollout
The Western Cape health department set up another site in the northern suburbs of Cape Town as they trialled the rollout.
“We have 200 000 doses of the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccine. This trial was a success, and we will continue to expand our sites in the coming weeks,” said Dr Saadiq Kariem, the Western Cape health department’s chief operating officer.
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