Governor Charlie Baker
HYANNIS – Amid growing concerns over the state’s slow roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine, Governor Charlie Baker has announced two new mass vaccination sites in Natick and Dartmouth as well as expanded efforts to get older residents vaccinated.
The news comes as experts such as Douglas Dillon Professor of Government Graham Allison with the Harvard Kennedy School give the state an “F” rating in three out of four categories measuring the success of the vaccine distribution process, including deaths per capita, vaccinations per capita and vaccinations as a percentage of doses available.
In the fourth category of months to finish vaccinating eligible adults, Allison gave Massachusetts a “D”.
As part of an effort to ramp up vaccinations statewide, Baker said that 74,000 appointments are expected to be posted online for mass vaccination sites and pharmacies at locations statewide on Thursday, February 11.
About 30,000 additional appointments will also be posted over the course of the week at pharmacies, totally over 100,000 new appointments.
The Dartmouth mass vaccination site is scheduled to open on Wednesday, February 24 at Circuit City with Curative as the provider.
The site is expected to administer 500 doses per day at first, then ramp up to 2,000 doses daily as the weeks continue.
Eligible residents in Phase 1 or the first tier of Phase 2 of the vaccine distribution plan—those 75 years old or above—will be able to make appointments for the site beginning February 18.
The Natick site will open February 22 at the Natick Mall with LabCorp as the provider, and will begin by administering 500 doses per day before increasing to 3,000 in the coming weeks.
The Natick site will also begin taking appointments on February 18.
“Over 70 percent of total doses shipped to Massachusetts have been reported into the state’s database as administered. And we’re continuing to add appointments at vaccination sites statewide,” said Baker.
“As media outlets have reported, residents are finding open appointments at mass vaccination sites much more easily than they were when they first opened up.”
Across the state, 30 new retail pharmacy sites have also been added to the Commonwealth’s vaccination infrastructure, bringing the total number of vaccination sites up to 130.
Baker said that the total will increase to 165 sites by the middle of the month.
According to the Administration, individuals who accompany someone age 75 or older to get a vaccine at a mass vaccination site may now also schedule and receive their own vaccination on the same day.
“Any caregiver is eligible to receive the vaccine at the same site as their 75 year old partner. This includes a family member or friend who is supporting someone who is 75 years or older,” said Baker.
The caregiver must schedule their own appointment online for the same day and location as the 75 or older resident, and only one caregiver may accompany a 75 or older resident.
Vaccination sites will make every effort to take both individuals together to minimize wait times.
“We hope this change will encourage more 75 and older residents to get their vaccines at mass vaccination sites, which have the most availability and are the best suited to provide safe access for our older residents. With Phase 2 of our vaccination distribution program well underway, we’ll continue to make changes based on what we hear from others to improve access and streamline the process,” said Baker.
Individuals can go to the mass.gov COVID vaccine site to schedule the appointments, where an option will be present for indicating that an individual is an accompanying caregiver.
A COVID-19 vaccination appointment hotline is also available for residents that can be reached by calling 2-1-1.
More information on COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as a map of vaccination locations, can be found here.
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