A regional COVID-19 vaccination site in Massachusetts held a vaccine clinic for high school students aged 16 and older.The clinic ran from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the DoubleTree Hotel in Westborough and was open to residents of the towns of Ashland, Boylston, Grafton, Holliston, Northborough, Southborough and Westborough.The only COVID-19 vaccine the site offered was Pfizer because it is the only one approved for people under the age of 18. Those aged 16 or 17 had to bring a parent with them or receive a parent s consent, in order to be vaccinated. My dad brought it up a little while ago, and I didn t know if I wanted to get it, said Connor Leonard, a student at Grafton High School. But I decided that I wanted to recently just so I could get it over with. When I heard that this was available for kids his age, I thought a lot of these people know a lot more than I do, so I m going to listen to them and try to keep my kid safe, said Michael Leonard, Connor Leonard s
MetroWest Daily News
Ashland, like many communities throughout the state and nation, has struggled to secure doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Town leaders have put in requests for the vaccine, but have been denied.
“Obviously, we were struggling like everyone else,” said police Sgt. Ed Burman, the town’s COVID-19 task force manager.
The state Department of Public Health encouraged town leaders to create partnerships with surrounding communities that are also having difficulty getting doses of the vaccine. Hosting a regional clinic could prompt the state to send more doses faster.
“They kept telling us Ashland was too small,” said Burman. “They didn’t want to send us 100 doses, 200 doses.”
Ashland s Mindess School makes immediate pivot to full-remote learning
ASHLAND The David Mindess Elementary School pivoted to remote learning on Friday, ahead of the rest of the school district, which will follow on Monday. While the School Committee voted (earlier this week) to start remote learning next Monday, there has been significant COVID impact today on staffing that necessitates an immediate move to remote learning, Superintendent of Schools James Adams wrote in an email.
The Mindess School, at 90 Concord St., serves grades 3-5.
Adams said he s been fielding many questions over the past few days asking why the decision was made for the district and what data supports such a move. To share data from the past four days at Mindess, he said that as of Thursday afternoon, the school had quarantined 21 staff members, including the entire administration.