COVID vaccinations to be offered for Meals on Wheels recipients

Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada is reaching out to its 2,400 Southern Nevada senior clients within its Meals on Wheels program to see if they would like to get inoculated in the comfort of their own homes.

Many of the senior citizens that the organization serves through the program — which provides seven meals delivered once a week — are homebound and are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19, according to Deacon Thomas Roberts, the CEO and president of Catholic Charities.

Here’s how it works: When a Meals on Wheels driver makes a delivery that driver will ask the senior citizen if they would like to get a shot. A flyer about the initiative also will be included in the meal delivery. If the senior wants a vaccine, that person’s ‘yes’ will be placed into a database that is shared with the Southern Nevada Health District, which will then coordinate a time and date for the Clark County Fire Department to administer the vaccine at the senior citizen’s home.

“It’s another good example, frankly, of a public-private partnership,” said Roberts. “We’re each using our respective wheelhouses to get this done and it makes a lot of sense.”

A spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Health District confirmed the program details, though a timeline wasn’t immediately made available. Roberts said flyers about the initiative will start to go out Friday as its drivers make their deliveries: He estimates that shots could happen later this month.

Shots for homebound seniors

Roberts said the initiative aims to ensure that no seniors fall through the cracks when trying to get a vaccine. For months advocates have called for more vaccinations to homebound individuals and those with mobility issues. The initiative stemmed from concerns that many might not have access or feel safe leaving their homes for a vaccine, he said

“I’ve been working with the governor’s office on this, to build a strike force around this issue,” Roberts said. “Just this past week, we had a follow-up conversation about moving forward and that there were enough vaccine available.”

He’s been lobbying for the Johnson &Johnson vaccine so it’s one-and-done, though Roberts is urging seniors to take whichever shot is made available.

This new partnership allows each agency and organization to do what it does best, Roberts said.

“It’s like a triangle, where the three of us are working together to make it happen,” he said. “It didn’t make sense for us to do the shots, but let’s find people that can set up the logistics and people who can inject a vaccine. We want to be the convener and collaborator.”

By tapping into the Meals on Wheels program, the partnership also is also to be successful to ramp up vaccinations across the valley.

“It allows us to do what we do best,” Roberts said. “The clients trust us. They know they can depend on us and, hopefully, we can pass that information to the health district and then to the fire department and we can make it happen.”

Contact Jonathan Ng at jng@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ByJonathanNg on Twitter.