LEXINGTON, Ky. — The homeless population in central Kentucky received COVID-19 vaccinations this week.

It was syringe after syringe, dose after dose as the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department helped vaccinate those without permanent homes.

“These are people who are going inside churches and buildings to food programs, these are people who are staying in shelters, so making sure that there are no outbreaks at these places is very important,” said Kevin Hall, communications officer for the department.

They chose the St. Paul Catholic Church as the host site because it’s centrally located in downtown Lexington where any given day or night at least 700 homeless people are tallied up.

“So some of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine product has been used in the jails, because you're wanting to get people who are unable to come back for that second dose. This is trying to find some of those populations where that is a barrier, obviously those without homes population is a tremendous piece of that.” Hall said.

He said the single shot is easier to track and makes logistical planning more convenient.

“It's really important to remember that these are people of Lexington, these are people who live here, they're members of our community. And it's important to remember that nobody will slip through the cracks with this we're trying to reach these hard to reach populations,” Hall said. “So that includes those without homes population includes people who don't speak English and so our Outreach efforts go large and wide to get as many people as possible.”

Father Richard Watson said being a host site is about putting faith in action.

“Their dignity is incredibly important to us. And so we want to honor the dignity of all of our brothers and sisters, and give them the same opportunities that the rest of us have so this is incredibly important to our faith community here, to be making this, this type of ministry available,” Watson said.

Amy Thompson is one of 150 people to receive the dose.

“Be on the safe side because you never know. It started back in March when they were testing tubing people and so many people may have passed away,” Thompson said. “I don’t know ... it saddens me to know but please y'all go get your vaccine.”

The health department said this is the first vaccination clinic for this vulnerable population.

Similar events could take place in the future depending on vaccine supply.