BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — With much of the homeless population not having access to healthcare, this has raised some concerns this past year due to the pandemic. However, now a local shelter is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Mission at Kern County hosts roughly 200 guests a night. As of Monday, half of them have agreed to get the Johnson and Johnson single shot vaccines, in hopes of slowing the spread of Covid-19.

The Executive Director of the Mission at Kern County, Carlos Baldovinos says congregant shelters have seen their challenges this year due to the pandemic, but they have managed, and getting their turn to receive vaccines is a step in the right direction.

Baldovinos says the virus does not discriminate, “Whether you’re well to do , or your’re very poor, or you’re in any tough part of any given community, it just spreads. That’s the thing we want to stop the spread. And I am so thankful for tomorrow we will get some of our most vulnerable neighbors here in this community vaccinated. We can be part of this solution.”

Baldovinos also wants to clarify that this will not be open to the public. Vaccines will strictly be going out to guests within the facility.

For more information on the Mission At Kern County:
https://www.themissionkc.org