Covid-19: Low take-up of vaccine in Manx homeless, says charity

Graih manager Erica Irwin says vulnerable groups are anxious about vaccinations

There has been a low take-up of the Covid-19 vaccine among the Isle of Man's homeless, a charity has said.

Graih, which runs a drop-in and night shelter for anyone sleeping rough, said many homeless people had been reluctant to get the jab since the start of the vaccination rollout in January.

Manager Erica Irwin said some people had "major anxiety and paranoia" and the process could be "overwhelming".

She said many had missed appointments or not got an appointment letter.

Ms Irwin said: "If they've got major anxiety or they're really paranoid... it's really confusing and it's really hard to hear what your own views are with all of that around.

"Anxiety, paranoia and things like that, it's not a straightforward thing."

The charity has worked with the health department to hold two private vaccination hub nights.

Ms Irwin said: "We could walk them through the process, help them fill out the forms, because the form you have to fill in not everyone can read competently... it can be very overwhelming.

"It's a new environment, it looks weird, and so to have someone just to walk through that with you or familiar faces, really actually takes some of that anxiety-causing stress away."

Although they had a good response to the hubs, Ms Irwin said there was still apprehension among groups of vulnerable people.

More than 59,000 adults have now been fully vaccinated across the island, which is about 82% of the eligible population.