U.S. Senator Ed Markey toured a COVID-19 vaccination site set up by the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center.
The Shaw’s Center, next to Campanelli Stadium, is gearing up to administer 1,000 doses per day. Markey says the site is a model the rest of the country should follow. He says communities of color have been disparately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ensuring that we’re taking the necessary steps that are needed in order to help people make it through these difficult times,” said Markey. “We need a vision to get us through this pandemic. But a vision without funding is a hallucination. The communities need the help, and if you give them the help, they will get the job done and we’re seeing that in Brockton here today.”
CARES Act funds were used to renovate the center, which was closed and had fallen into disrepair, into an initial testing site. Now the National Guard is helping administer vaccines.
“This is an example of what it takes when you work together in collaboration,” said Mayor Robert Sullivan. “Without the federal money, and I want to thank Senator Markey, without the federal money we wouldn’t be here right now.”
Sullivan says Markey and Congressman Stephen Lynch were among the first two legislators in Washington to reach out when Brockton had one of the highest infection rates in the country.
CEO of the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, Sue Joss, says they’ve treated 4,400 patients with COVID since the start of the pandemic.
Markey says as part of the $1.9 trillion dollar American Rescue Plan, $7.4 million dollars will go to help expand the vaccination efforts at the Neighborhood Health Center.
“The city, when we were broke and didn’t have any money left to keep our vaccinations going, we got some help from the federal government at that time,” said Joss.
“The city stepped up and said, ‘we’ll we’re just going to renovate this place on our money. Now that we have $7.4 million coming, we spent half of that money on faith that you were going to come through for us,” she said to Markey. “So we’re pretty grateful that we’re in a position to actually keep going, meet our expenses, and keep serving our community”
