Cape Codders no longer need to make appointments to get their COVID-19 vaccines.
Vaccination sites across the Cape including Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis and Cape Cod Fairgrounds in East Falmouth are now offering shots to walk-ins during clinic hours.
The days when Cape Codders had to spend hours online trying to find an appointment have vanished with the winter’s chill.
“Walk-ins are available universally. It’s never been easier” to get a shot, state Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, said Thursday morning during a briefing by the Cape Cod COVID-19 Response Task Force.
“Now we have ample supplies. You can sign up. You can walk in,” Cyr said.
A sign announcing free COVID-19 vaccines at Shaw s in Falmouth.
The vaccination effort aimed at stopping the COVID-19 pandemic has reached a turning point, as demand for vaccines slows and most clinics have begun offering them on a walk-in basis.
All members of Cape Cod’s vaccine consortium, which includes Cape Cod Healthcare, community health centers, and Barnstable County, now allow people to get the vaccine without an appointment, according to state Sen. Julian Cyr.
Retail pharmacies that offer the vaccine are beginning to take walk-ins as well.
“This is pretty good news,” Cyr said. “This is going to help further maximum participation.”
Officials on Cape Cod say the allocation of COVID-19 vaccine should be based on the Cape’s high proportion of people over 65, not the general population, but they’re not the only ones looking for more doses.
State Rep. Sarah Peake, of Provincetown, said local officials estimate that well below half of Cape Cod residents 75 and older have been vaccinated.
“We re asking for our fair share,” she said.
The complaints on Cape Cod come as other interest groups around the state advocate for their own share of the vaccine.
A coalition of 11 organizations focused on the needs of Black and Latinx residents is calling for vaccine to be distributed based on hospitalization rates, which would direct more doses to those groups.
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Happy birthday Nick, sailor yarns, Valentine spins, Town Notes
The Barnstable Patriot
In recognition of what would have been the 33rd birthday of U.S. Marine Corporal Nicholas G. Xiarhos, his namesake foundation and The Cape Cod Foundation partnered last week to issue $33,000 in community support grants. Nicholas lived a life that brought joy and love to people he touched all over the world, a life that was dedicated to serving our great nation and the men and women who defend it, wrote Nicholas father, Steven. With your ongoing love and support, the Nicholas G. Xiarhos Memorial Foundation and the Xiarhos Gold Star Family will continue to do everything we can to keep his dedication, his legacy, and his dream alive.