Nearly every member of the Massachusetts congressional delegation is calling on Governor Charlie Baker to put in place a system to allow residents to pre-register and receive notice of COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
Two months after the bumpy and unequal vaccination of the state, 10 of the 11 members of the Democratic delegation of the state signed a letter to the Republican governor arguing that a centralized pre-registration system would help officials direct population where there not a question of vaccination and streamlining the appointment planning process for both patients and providers.
“An unrelated and cumbersome reporting process has left seniors confused and unable to access the much-needed vaccine appointments, and the excessive reliance on mass vaccination sites has left appointments unfinished and large sections of our most vulnerable populations undeserved,” the letter said Friday. went out and led by Representative Katherine Clark.
The legislation said that the pre-registration system – in which residents can provide relevant information online, telephonically or in person ahead of time, and be notified later when they are eligible to make an appointment.
Rep. Richard Neal was the only member of the delegation who did not sign the letter.
Baker acknowledged the frustrations with the pace of implementation, which he attributed to the limited supply, the state’s decision to prioritize highly vulnerable groups and the unwillingness to get the vaccine among these groups, as expected.
In their letter to Baker, however, lawmakers expressed concern that the lack of a pre-registration system also contributed to the “slow and unfair deployment of vaccines in Massachusetts, a trend that will only be exacerbated by increased demand as appointments open for future eligible groups. ”
Similar systems have been established in states such as Florida, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia. Western Virginia – which, unlike Massachusetts, is a national leader in the rapid administration of vaccine doses – was the first state in the country to set up a pre-registration system through the Burlington-based mass communications company Everbridge.
A two-state group of state lawmakers recently introduced a bill to start a pre-registration system in Massachusetts, where residents would provide personal information, such as their age, occupation and any underlying medical conditions they may prefer under the three-phase vaccination. of the state. The proposed system will enable users to provide a ranking of preferred vaccination sites and then receive a notification, as soon as it is eligible, when appointments open at that location.
In the letter to Baker, lawmakers say a pre-registration system will eliminate part of the current friction in the reporting process in multiple steps and enable the state to adjust the supply of vaccines early with demand. Amid concerns about accessibility to the state’s current emphasis on mass vaccination sites, the system would also promote equity efforts, legislators wrote, identifying communities or groups where additional outreach is needed.
“We realize that this type of emergency communication system requires money, and we will continue to fight for federal resources to sharpen vaccine production and to help the Commonwealth ensure that vaccines are distributed fairly and efficiently,” the group wrote. .
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