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People in Salmon Arm without homes receive vaccine on pandemic anniversary

Residents staying at Salvation Army’s Lighthouse Shelter get vaccinated
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Interior Health nurses were administering COVID-19 vaccines to seniors and care aides in Kelowna on Tuesday, March 16. In Salmon Arm on March 11, guests, staff and support personnel at the Salvation Army’s Lighthouse Shelter at McGuire Lake were vaccinated. (Phil McLachlan/Black Press)

On the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization officially considering COVID-19 a pandemic, some of the people who are without homes in Salmon Arm received a vaccination.

Lieutenant Joel Torrens with the Salvation Army said the organization received word from Interior Health that vaccines were available, so guests in the Lighthouse Shelter as well as staff and support personnel there were given the first of a two-dose vaccine on March 11.

“We’re very grateful to them for all the hard work they’re putting into getting the vaccine out there and supporting the vulnerable people in our community,” he said of Interior Health staff.

Torrens estimated about 10 guests in the shelter were vaccinated.

He said the Salvation Army is in ongoing conversations with Interior Health to ensure vulnerable people in the community can receive the vaccine if they want it. The opportunity for vaccinations came together quickly so if there are people who still need to be reached the organization will figure out a way to do that, he said.

He added that March 11 “was one of those really great moments to see how many people have worked really hard to bring us through this and are continuing to do so.”

Read more: COVID-19 vaccinations underway in Salmon Arm

Read more: Salmon Arm rec centre to serve as COVID-19 vaccination hub



marthawickett@saobserver.net
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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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