Study: Low vaccination rates amongst people living on DTES

One third of people on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside who use drugs are not fully vaccinated, and a new study is looking to provide vaccination outreach for vulnerable communities.

A study by the BC Centre on Substance Use and UBC spoke with 275 people who use drugs on Vancouver’s Downtown East side and Downtown South neighbourhoods which showed as of January 2022, 64 per cent of those people reported being fully vaccinated. Whereas, over 81 per cent B.C.’s general population is fully vaccinated.

Guy Felicella, a peer clinical advisor says the efforts for vaccination on The DTES are flexible, with the goal of getting as many residents vaccinated as possible.

“We would walk into a hotel do it in he hallway wherever someone was comfortable taking their dose,” Felicella said. Adding, experience homelessness can reduce the likelihood of getting vaccinated.

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“There are underlying issues, staying in shelters, all would have a severe impact if they got COVID.”

Dr. Catherine Hankins, co-chair of Canada’s COVID-19 immunity task force says there needs to be expanded access for people with addiction living in vulnerable communities.

“I think these findings are of interest not only for drug user populations but also marginalized populations that need special access to build their trust and lessen fears about vaccines.”

Early on in the vaccine rollout the province prioritized people experiencing housing insecurity, rolling out a number of efforts to reach people in the downtown east side, including recruiting those with lived experiences to help with outreach.

“[Me] and my colleagues, we all have lived experiences down there, and one of the main questions I would get is “did you get the vaccine” and I was like yes of course,” Felicella told CityNews.

Research Scientist with the BC Centre on Substance Use, Brittany Barker, feels the study indicates local efforts on the DTES were relatively successful when compared to other drug user populations in North America.

“They are far higher than other studies done. In San Diego, only 7 per cent of that population received the vaccine and in Ontario, I believe only 50 per cent of the population is vaccinated, so VCH’s efforts here were quite successful despite being lower than the provincial average,” Barker explained to CityNews.

Feliciella agrees, saying he’s proud of the work done on the DTES, emphasizing the importance of trust and easy access when it comes to encouraging vaccinations in vulnerable communities.

“There’s still outreach teams approaching shelters with the vaccine, telling people if they do need a booster, so in that regard I don’t know how much more of a targeted response we could do.