City to roll out vaccinations at homeless facilities starting Tuesday

Program run in partnership with Seoul Medical Center volunteer corps, private hospitals

Seoul Metropolitan Government administers free flu vaccines to housing-vulnerable residents in October last year. [Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government]
Seoul Metropolitan Government administers free flu vaccines to housing-vulnerable residents in October last year. [Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday that it will administer free influenza vaccines to about 1,900 medically vulnerable residents — including homeless people and those living in single-room lodgings — starting Tuesday in preparation for the winter flu season. Most vaccinations will be completed by Oct. 30, though some facilities will continue into early next month.

Large-scale vaccination sessions are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at the Dasiseogi Hope Support Center near Seoul Station, and on Oct. 29 at the Yeongdeungpo Bohyeon Comprehensive Support Center's affiliated clinic. The program covers not only users of homeless shelters and single-room lodging counseling centers but also people sleeping on the streets.

The Seoul Station sessions will run Wednesday and Thursday from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Dasiseogi Hope Support Center in front of Exit 2 of Seoul Station on Subway Line 1. The Yeongdeungpo free clinic session will be held Oct. 29 during the same hours.

In addition, the Nanum Medical Volunteer Corps will either visit 11 homeless facilities across the city directly or work through facility-contracted physicians and partner hospitals to administer the vaccines. The outreach is designed to improve access for homeless people and single-room lodging residents who have difficulty reaching medical institutions.

The program is being carried out through a partnership among the Nanum Medical Volunteer Corps — composed of medical staff from city-run hospitals — the Dasiseogi Comprehensive Support Center and the Yeongdeungpo Bohyeon Comprehensive Support Center, with vaccines funded by private-sector donations.

Seoul Medical Center is organizing the Nanum Medical Volunteer Corps, drawing on medical and administrative staff from eight city-run hospitals to support the smooth operation of the vaccination drive, including vaccine storage and management. Homeless free clinics and related facilities are responsible for guiding and publicizing the program to eligible recipients and managing on-site operations.

"We will continue working to ensure that our marginalized neighbors can spend the winter in good health and safety," said Jeong Jin-woo, Seoul's welfare director.

Seoul has run a free annual flu vaccination program for homeless people and single-room lodging residents with limited access to medical care every year since 2011. The cumulative number of people vaccinated through last year stands at 45,430.


ken@heraldcorp.com