More than 60 people, many of whom are homeless, queued outside at the U-turn Homeless Service Centre in Claremont this past weekend to receive their Johnson & Johnson vaccine against COVID-19 and a hot meal.
U-turn is an NGO that focuses on the rehabilitation and reintegration of homeless people. The organisation has three service centres in Claremont, Muizenberg and Mitchells Plain and supports between 1 800 and 2 000 citizens yearly.
According to GroundUp, those who had an ID number were asked to write it down and if they did not have one, their name and date of birth was used for registration.
People were called into the facility in groups of three where they were registered and vaccinated. After they received their vaccine, each one was also offered a free cooked meal and coffee, as per U-turn Homeless Ministries.
GroundUp quotes U-turn’s director, Jean-Ray Knighton-Fitt saying, “We wanted to create a welcoming and safe space with a meal where people could have access to the vaccine if they choose to.”
Tamzin Adriaans, U-turn’s manager in Claremont, mentioned that “A lot of clients voluntarily came and got themselves vaccinated. It’s amazing to see how many of them were willing to take care of their health to make sure that they’re okay and to also limit the spread from their side.”
Picture: Facebook / U-turn Homeless Ministries