Santa Cruz County announced that it will begin vaccinating unsheltered residents on March 15, after an outbreak of COVID-19 occurred at a local homeless encampment.
Last month, an individual living at a large encampment at Highway 1 and River Street in Santa Cruz County tested positive for COVID-19.
Contact tracing identified 13 additional cases, but so far none of the infected individuals have required hospitalization.
A spokesperson for the county was unavailable for comment, but Elizabeth Smith, communications manager for the city of Santa Cruz, said homeless encampments have only grown bigger during the pandemic.
“On the one hand, we have great compassion for those folks who have found themselves living outdoors,” she told KCBS Radio. “On the other hand, we have to balance the impacts that come along with that when large encampments form, to ensure that our unhoused residents and our housed residents are safe and healthy and in good shape.”
The city is under a federal injunction that prevents it from clearing large encampments.
Santa Cruz County will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines to homeless residents on March 15 as part of the next phase of vaccinations, which includes those with high risk medical conditions.
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