Although the government’s vaccination drive is already in full swing, there have been no announced plans for the vaccination of homeless people, despite the public health risk if they are left out. (Darren Stewart/Gallo Images)
The City of Johannesburg is home to more than 10 000 homeless people who are spread around the city centre and its outskirts, according to Kebonye Senna from the city’s displaced persons unit. Although the government’s vaccination drive is already in full swing, there have been no announced plans for the vaccination of homeless people, despite the public health risk if they are left out.
The government’s electronic vaccine registration system requires one to provide an ID number. But many homeless people countrywide don’t have an identity document.
The recent days of looting, unrest and violence that engulfed the country also derailed the vaccination programme for Gauteng and affected the supply of medication.
Nomasonto Mdluli is homeless and lives on Rissik Street in Johannesburg. She has stayed here since 2017, switching from one area to another. She survives by asking for a few rand coins around the streets of the CBD. She is originally from KwaZulu-Natal and came to Joburg to seek a better life.
When approached by the Mail & Guardian to ask about Covid-19 vaccination, she looks surprised, but agrees to speak to us.
“Even last year when the pandemic started, some of us were left out on the streets. We didn’t go out to any shelter like many others. I don’t know anything about the vaccination or testing for the virus. I don’t even know where my ID is as we are talking,” said Mdluli.
Gauteng department of health spokesperson Vuyo Sabani told the M&G that there is no plan at the moment to vaccinate the homeless and displaced population around the province.
“I would be lying if I said there was a solid plan. We currently have not been advised of a way forward. We need direction from the national department of health and a policy that will guide us on this. It is a serious challenge at the moment,” said Sabani.
Bongani Fatyi from the Salvation Army in Braamfontein said it would be unfortunate if homeless people were left out of the vaccination programme.
“They also deserve to be afforded that right to access vaccinations. The ID problem is very limiting for them. We have helped more than 100 people who wanted help to register, but it is a challenge for many without IDs. These are the people we also shelter here and assist with clothes, food and counselling services. Otherwise our door in the church is always open for those who need our assistance,” said Fatyi.
National health department spokesperson Popo Maja said decisions about when and how homeless people would be administered for vaccination lies with the national coronavirus command council (NCCC).
“It is not a position of the national department of health,I am told. The national government has to decide and provide us with guidance on how homeless people would be vaccinated, for now there is not such a plan in our knowledge,” he said.
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