Abington Fire Chief John Nuttall. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
Due to limited supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, the state is focusing distribution to high-capacity venues such as retail pharmacies and mass-vaccination sites.
Towns in Plymouth County established local clinics to vaccinate residents. Governor Charlie Baker’s administration announced earlier this week that towns would not be receiving additional first doses due to the diminutive supply.
This drew the ire of first responders and health board members, who are urging Baker to let them have more local control.
“We’ve been up against it since day one. We’ve taken our blows and we’ve navigated some very rough waters,” said Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno. “But it does appear that every step of the way, we’re meeting resistance at the state level.”
Grenno was joined by dozens of first responders and local officials during a press conference at the Knights of Columbus in Whitman.
“The need for local clinics is especially important during Phase 2 of the distribution, which we are currently in. During this phase, we are beginning to work to vaccinate our oldest and sickest population of our communities,” said Grenno. “These individuals are the ones who should be asked to drive the least amount of distance and be given the greatest access to quick and efficient vaccination sites.”
Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
Hanover Town Manager Joe Colangelo said the town used $500,000 in federal CARES Act funding to build a mobile integrated health program.
“We are prepared to do vaccinations, but we have no vaccine,” said Hanover Fire Chief Jeff Blanchard. “It’s very frustrating. We receive phone calls every day.”
He said the town’s Council on Aging received more than 20 phone calls before 9 a.m. on Thursday.
“People are just hopeless. They have no idea of how they’re going to get a vaccination,” said Blanchard. “We’re willing, we’re able. We just need the state to provide us with a vaccine.”
This was on the same morning that outages were reported on the state website used to book appointments.
Baker announced Wednesday that residents 65 and older, and those with specific medical conditions would be eligible for the vaccine. That represents a new group of 1 million people.
State Representative Alyson Sullivan said the state knew since July that vaccines were coming.
“We are now going into March and there’s still no solid plan in place, except for mass vaccine sites, which will not vaccinate some of these people who have not left their house since last March — almost a whole year of being isolated,” said Sullivan. “They’re not going to feel safe going to these sites. Our chiefs and our boards of health have a plan in place to go to homes, to go to senior housing, to vaccinate them in somewhere they’re safe.”
State Representative Alyson Sullivan. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
Speakers at the conference highlighted the need for mass vaccination sites. But they felt that the state did not have a proper plan to help at-risk residents and those with mobility issues.
“We’re not against the mass sites. We’re not against the pharmacies that are having these as well,” said Abington Fire Chief John Nuttall. “However, they do not cover all of our residents. The real missing piece that we need is an allotment to the smaller communities so we can directly administer these vaccines.”
State Senator Mike Brady said the concerns would be brought up with Marylou Sudders, the state Secretary of Health and Human Services. He wanted to ensure that teachers can receive a vaccine before schools return to full in-person learning.
“We talked with the Biden Administration. They are getting these companies like Moderna and Pfizer to up their production,” said Brady. “But it still wasn’t enough when they laid this out at the start. It’s very frustrating for all of us.”
State Rep. Kathy LaNatra says Kingston and Plymouth officials are considering a regional site at the Kingston Collection. But there’s been little progress. In her district, some first responders have had trouble securing a second dose.
“Our chiefs, our boards of health know their communities. They know who is housebound. Whether our older population can get to these sites in Dartmouth, Fenway, or [Gillette] Stadium – it is intimidating. It is intimidating,” said LaNatra. “Let’s bring it back local.”
Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno said since the Cold War, towns have been tasked with coming up with emergency response plans.
“To suddenly cut off our supply shows a gross lack of forethought and serves a tremendous waste of municipalities’ time, energy, and resources.”
Governor Baker said the state is currently receiving 110,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine each week from the federal government.
With that allotment, he said it could take more than a month for all current residents to book an appointment for the vaccine.