BOSTON Nearly five months after the first COVID-19 vaccines were administered in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday the state will move toward a new phase of its immunization effort with the state on track to meet its initial goal of fully vaccinating 4.1 million people by early June.
Baker said the revised vaccine strategy will see the administration start to dial back its reliance on mass vaccination sites and increase vaccine distribution to regional vaccine sites, mobile clinics and primary care providers to improve access to harder to reach populations.
Four of high-volume mass vaccination sites - Gillette Stadium, Hynes Convention Center, Natick Mall and Danvers Doubletree - will close by the end of June.
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout is entering a new phase in Massachusetts.
With demand for the vaccines easing and thousands of appointments available, Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration announced plans Monday to ramp down operations at four of the state’s seven mass vaccination sites and shift doses toward smaller providers as officials look to focus on “harder to reach” and more hesitant populations.
The pivot comes as the state’s vaxfinder.mass.gov website shows thousands of vaccination appointments available this week across both large and small vaccine sites, including pharmacies, health clinics, and local community centers. And with 3.9 million people in Massachusetts already partially or fully vaccinated and another 180,000 first-dose appointments scheduled in the coming week, state officials project the state to reach its goal of fully vaccinating 4.1 million residents by the beginning of June.
A health official in Philadelphia prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Use of the vaccine is on hold temporarily in Massachusetts and other states while experts review an extremely rare number of blood clots. ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
J&J VACCINE PAUSE: Federal regulators are recommending that states hold off on administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, while health experts look at six reported cases of people who had severe blood clots after getting the vaccine. Thatâs out of more than 6.8 million people who got the vaccine.
The delay prompted the head of the stateâs medical society to argue that the vaccine program in Massachusetts must be fair.
Halt in J&J shots deepens vaccination uncertainties at a critical time
Massachusetts follows CDC recommendation to pause injections
By Robert Weisman and Jonathan Saltzman Globe Staff,Updated April 13, 2021, 1 hour ago
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A clinic in Elgin, Ill., was closed Tuesday with the news of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.Rick West/Associated Press
A sudden halt in Johnson & Johnsonâs vaccine injected jitters into the nationâs COVID-19 inoculation campaign Tuesday, threatening to shake confidence in vaccinations six days before theyâre opened to all adults.
Massachusetts quickly joined dozens of other states, including neighboring Rhode Island and New Hampshire, in adopting a federal recommendation to suspend the J&J shots as US health officials review a half-dozen cases of rare blood clots in women who had been given the single-dose vaccine. About 6.8 million Americans have received the vaccine so far.
Federal officials expect their recommended pause on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines will last a matter of days, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.
Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said the exact time frame will depend on what officials learn over the next few days in their review of six cases of a severe blood clot reported after receiving the J&J shot, which she said seems to be extremely rare.
The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday announced they were recommending a pause on delivering J&J vaccines while those reports of a combination of the blood clot and a low platelet count â from six women in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 48, among a pool of more than 6.8 million J&J doses administered nationwide â are investigated. Subsequently, the Massachusetts Department of Health directed providers here to stop giving J&J vaccines while the review plays out.