Governor Charlie Baker announced Thursday that anyone eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine under Phase 1 of the state’s rollout program can now book an appointment to get a chance.
This now includes home health care workers, and non-COVID facing health care workers, as well as workers and residents of care facilities such as shelters and prisons. The vaccine was already available to health workers, staff and residents of long-term care facilities and first responders such as police, firefighters and paramedics, who face COVID.
Among those who fall into the home-based health care workers category are personal caregivers (PCAs); mental and behavioral health providers providing home treatment; outdated staff of the service agency who make regular home visits; and many other groups, according to the state list.
Non-COVID health professionals now eligible for the vaccination are dentists, dental students and dentists; inpatients and outpatients physical therapists; blood donors; audiologists and speech and language pathologists; specialists for asthma and allergies; chiropractors; acupuncturists; and a wide range of other professionals.
According to the state, this is the complete list of those of Phase 1 groups who are just eligible to receive the shots:
Home-based health workers, including:
- PT / OT / SLP therapists working with medically complex home students
- Personal Caregivers (PCAs)
- Home health, hospice and home care staff who provide home visits
- Independent nurses and continuously trained nursing staff who visit the home
- Aging Service Agency Staff Visiting Home Regularly
- State-of-the-art home care staff, including DCF Emergency Response Workers, DMH case managers and DDS care coordinators
- Mental and behavioral providers offering home treatment (eg ACCS integrated team, PACT, CBHI, ABA, ESP)
- Adult foster care and group of foster care adults who perform work in the home
- Independent therapists (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists) who perform work in the home
- Home-based recreation and staff for individual / family support (DDS and DDS self-directed)
Healthcare workers who do not care for COVID face, including:
- Dental / dental students and dental hygienists (unless they regularly work with COVID-19 positive or suspected patients, such as oral surgeons treating the ER, in which case COVID face should be considered)
- Students in medical and nursing (unless they regularly work with COVID-19 positive or suspicious patients, in which case COVID face should be considered)
- Physiotherapists for inpatients and outpatients (unless they regularly work with COVID-19 positive or suspicious patients, in which case COVID face should be considered)
- Interpreters working in hospitals (unless they regularly work with COVID-19 positive or suspicious patients, in which case should be targeted as COVID)
- Behavioral health clinics not yet treated under care or immediate care
- Non-COVID facing laboratories
- Blood donors
- Organ donor workers
- Hospitals / palliative care staff
- Visual professionals who do not have COVID
- Dialysis center workers and patients
- Audiologists and speech and language pathologists (unless they regularly work with COVID-19 positive or suspected patients, in which case COVID face should be considered)
- Podiatrists and podiatrists (unless they regularly work with COVID-19 positive or suspected patients, in which case COVID face should be considered)
- Program for staff for all elderly care (PACE)
- SUD treatment program staff (if the program is not residential)
- Asthma and allergy specialists
- Diagnostic staff for sleep test centers
- Chiropractors
- School nurses (except those who work as vaccinators / testers)
- Members of the clergy (if they work in a patient-oriented role)
- Acupuncturists
The next phase is according to the state Phase 2, which according to the state will be launched at some point in February. The phase contains, in order of priority, people with two or more comorbidities; those who are 75 years and older; residents and staff of public and private low-income and affordable senior housing; workers in early education, K-12 schools, transit, groceries, utilities, food and agriculture, restaurants and cafes; employees in the food, beverage, agricultural, consumer goods, retail and food service sectors; meat packers; sanitation, public works and public health workers; vaccine development workers; food workers and volunteers; Uber, Lyft and other service workers; pharmacy delivery managers; workers in the passenger ground transportation industry; MassPort employees outside the police; water and wastewater personnel; court system workers such as judges, lawyers and clerks, but not court officials, who are listed as first responders; medical supply chain workers; funeral directors and funeral workers; shipping ports and terminal workers; adults 65 and older; and people with a comorbidity.
Then, state officials say Massachusetts is planning Phase 3 of the launch in April, when the vaccine is “expected to be available to the general public,” including senior educators such as administrators, teachers and non-teaching staff. ; bottle of liquor workers; and veterinarians.
“Once the vaccine is available to the general public, public vaccine clinics will be available on the CDC’s interactive website: vaccinefinder.org,” the state’s website says. You can also contact your primary care provider, local pharmacy or local health department. “
Baker said during his regular information session on the State House on Thursday: ‘Based on the number of people who were vaccinated and who were part of the early part of phase 1, we now believe that someone in phase 1 should go to the website, a recruit near them, and go get dose. Because they [vaccination sites] is now open. All of them. “
The website he referred to is mass.gov/covidvaccinemap, which provides information on the fitness and vaccination sites, as well as instructions for booking reservations.
The state’s website also reminds residents that ‘the vaccine requires two doses. You must receive the same vaccine for doses one and two, and therefore you must receive both doses in the same place. ”
Travis Andersen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.