BOSTON (CBS) – Massachusetts on Wednesday announced a “streamlined” vaccine distribution plan that would direct the dose of COVID-19 vaccines to high-capacity areas and away from most smaller town clinics aimed at serving only their residents.
The state has informed local health councils that it “prefers equality and high capacity at all times, especially as the supply of vaccines from the federal government remains extremely limited.” The plan will increase vaccine capacity for mass vaccination sites, local and pharmacy sites.
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From 1 March, first doses will no longer be provided to municipalities that have individual clinics that only serve their residents. The state said it would continue to distribute second doses so that everyone who had their first appointment could be vaccinated in full.
“Every city around me has prepared themselves and gotten ready to do their own vaccination,” said Timman, Whitman’s fire chief.
Now towns need to form a consortium and pool their resources to create larger but smaller sites.
“This is where Beacon Hill is out of touch with the people of Massachusetts,” Grenno said. “Residents 75 years and older will not travel to mass vaccination sites.”
WBZ heard this week from villages frustrated by a lack of shots sent to their side after being told last summer they would be at the forefront of vaccine distribution. Scituate ran a 100-dose clinic on Tuesday and those who received a vaccine were happy with the smooth process.
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“People get a little frustrated because they call and our answer is that we just do not have the vaccine to issue,” said Jim Boudreau, city manager. “If we had it, we would give it.”
The state will continue to support regional cooperative businesses that are open to all Massachusetts residents.
In Marshfield, the city has already turned the fair into a driveway for Plymouth County residents. Now it will be regional
“Being a regional area, which we are already a bit regional because we are Plymouth County, now with the new mandate of Secretary Sudders, we will probably become like a state territory, but for the southeastern region,” Marshfield Town said. Manager Mike Maresco.
There are 20 municipalities that continue to distribute vaccines because they ‘have the largest COVID burden and the largest percentage of non-white residents’. They are: Boston; Brockton; Chelsea; Everett; Val River; Fitchburg; Framingham; Haverhill; Holyoke; Lawrence; Leominster; Lowell; Lynn; Malden; Methuen; New Bedford; Randolph; Reversal; Springfield; and Worcester.
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