People receiving treatment for addiction listen to a counselor at a substance abuse treatment center run by Spectrum Health in Westborough on March 22, 2016. (John Moore/Getty Images)
After 10 months of contending with the coronavirus pandemic, the largest addiction treatment provider in Massachusetts expressed relief as it began vaccinating workers and long-term patients against the virus.
Spectrum Health Systems received 700 doses of the Moderna vaccine last week, and as of Tuesday, the company had administered about half of the first doses to staff and 20 people in residential addiction treatment.
Kristen Nolan, vice president of behavioral health for Spectrum Health Systems, said the vaccines were administered at a clinic set up on Spectrum's Westborough campus, and Spectrum expected to vaccinate most of its more than 500 employees. About 120 patients in long-term treatment in Westborough and at the company's program in Weymouth were eligible for vaccination. Spectrum medical staff will be issuing the inoculations.