Baker adds sites, accelerates vaccinations for residents 65 and over while hundreds of thousands of doses sit unused
Pace of vaccinations hinges on federal supply, governor says
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Caregiver Nancy McMahon received the first of her two coronavirus vaccine shots from Erin Smith recently at the Brightview Country Club Heights in Woburn.Lane Turner/Globe Staff
Governor Charlie Baker outlined a plan on Monday to add more than 60 injection sites across the state, including three new mass vaccination locations, while moving residents age 65 and over forward in line for the next phase of COVID-19 shots.
The steps came as state officials acknowledged that while large clusters of Massachusetts residents who are not yet eligible are clamoring for vaccines, hundreds of thousands of doses are sitting on freezer shelves in hospitals and the warehouses of pharmacies serving senior care sites.
Operational Update: Infusions of Respiratory Support, PPE for Hospitals Continue
Prepped for departure from Direct Relief s warehouse, medical aid is staged on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, bound for health facilities across the globe. (Tony Morain/Direct Relief)
Over the past seven days, Direct Relief has shipped requested medical aid to 41 U.S. states and territories and 16 countries around the world, amounting to more than 10 million Defined Daily Doses of medication.
Operational activity remains high for California, where cases continue to break records week after week. This week, it became the first U.S. state to record a total of 3 million cases since the pandemic began.
How Does A State Prepare To Vaccinate Its Entire Population? It s Not Easy
A man speaks with a nurse before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at Gillette Stadium on January 15, 2021 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. First responders and healthcare workers will be first to recieve the vaccinations at the stadium, starting with around 300 people per day, but advancing to thousands per day soon after.
Scott Eisen/Getty Images
Challenges Ahead For Mass Vaccination
Massachusetts is sorting through the challenges of mass vaccination as it prepares to roll out a program to millions of people in Massachusettsâ general public.
The state is still in Phase 1 of its 3-phase rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, offering shots to health care professionals, residents and staff in congregate care settings, and first responders. Phase 2 is expected to begin next month and will include seniors and people with two risk factors, called comorbidities. The general public is expected to start getting vaccin
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, as photographed on March 13, 2020. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
Before his expected move to Washington, D.C. to serve as Joe Biden s Secretary of Labor, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh acknowledged that a deadly pandemic made 2020 a tough year for the city, but said 2021 will be a year of healing. We may be hurting, but the state of our city is resilient, Walsh said in his final State of the City address on Tuesday, which he delivered from the rebuilt Roxbury branch of the Boston Public Library in Nubian Square. The state of our city is united; the state of our city is hopeful; and the state of our city is deep-down Boston strong, Walsh said.