The state senator says the rollout of the vaccine by Baker leaves Cape Cod behind

Cape Cod’s Barnstable County has the oldest population in Massachusetts; However, as the state puts seniors at risk with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, Senate Julian Cyr says the Cape is lagging behind.

Cyr, who represents most of the Cape and the islands, said during a conference on Thursday that the overly elderly and geographically isolated region is being maintained by vaccination sites and doses, even while Government Charlie Baker’s efforts to address those in the most vulnerable is, to try to exert. 75-year-old and older age group vaccinated.

“I’m frustrated, I’m disappointed and frankly angry,” the Truro Democrat said during the Cape Cod COVID-19 response task force.

Cyr pointed to a lack of a mass vaccination site on Cape Cod, as well as what he said was the inadequate distribution of vaccine doses to Barnstable County by the Baker administration. While the Republican governor announced this week that more than 100,000 new appointments would be available at mass vaccination centers and pharmacies across the state, Cyr said only 1,300 of them were at the Cape.

“Those filled up within 29 minutes,” he said.

“I still hear reports that there are thousands and thousands of appointments available in Gillette during a week,” Cyr said, referring to one of the state’s five mass vaccination sites. “It indicates to me that where the vaccines are made available is actually not accessible to the people who need them.”

According to Cyr, Barnstable County has about twice the rate of residents older than 75 – 12.7 percent of the population, compared to 6.7 percent nationwide. According to census figures, 31.4 percent of the population is older than 65 years, a group that is next in line under state vaccination. Across the country, 17 percent of the population is older than 65 years.

In raw numbers, Barnstable County still has tens of thousands fewer people over the age of 65 compared to significantly more populous counties such as Middlesex, Suffollk and Worcester. The province is currently in the middle of the group in terms of infections per capita, compared to other provinces in Massachusetts.

The call came Thursday after Baker announced plans on Wednesday to establish two more mass vaccination sites in Natick and Dartmouth, as well as a policy to bring younger individuals accompanying people over the age of 75 to an appointment at a mass to allow vaccination room. .

While the Cape has at least ten small vaccination sites at pharmacies and other locations, the Baker administration has promoted the efficiency and scope of mass vaccination centers, each of which will increase to administer thousands of doses per day. According to Cyr, there have been private discussions between the Baker administration and local stakeholders about further expanding access to vaccines at the Cape, including a possible mass vaccination site at Cape Cod Community College.

“It did not happen,” he said.

Baker originally said the state plans to establish a total of seven mass vaccination sites, but recently suggested the state could open more as the run-up progresses.

If the region does not get a mass vaccination site, Cyr has asked the Baker administration to distribute doses to local health councils, which should already have the infrastructure to set up vaccines. So far, he said, only two of the country’s 15 health councils have received any doses.

“Logistically, we are ready to vaccinate people,” Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce CEO Wendy Northcross said during the call. “We just need more vaccination. We understand that there is a limit to the supply. But we are ready. ”

Cyr said he was confident that the local health council could fill a gap in the absence of mass vaccination premises, but that there was currently a “disturbance” among local officials and residents.

“We are actually the third oldest country in the country,” he said. “So, at this stage of the vaccination, this is now when we have the greatest need.”