Every person who gets vaccinated is another individual who is protected from the risks of COVID-19. We need to find different ways to reach people no matter what barriers they face.

No one knows this better than Clackamas County paramedic Amy Jo Cook (pictured right). On Wednesday, she was doing outreach to people experiencing houselessness. While she was there, she offered COVID-19 vaccines to the people living in an encampment. That day, she vaccinated 12 people who were at-risk but might not otherwise have been able to get immunized.

Her experience taught her that she’d need to take advantage of these kinds of moments to get the best results. Next, she plans to drop in at a local shelter during lunch and shower times and visit the surrounding area to reach others who want the COVID-19 vaccine.

This kind of outreach can take a little time, but it’s vitally important to helping us reach community immunity.

This article first appeared in the April 2, 2021 issue of Oregon Coronavirus Update.