How Massachusetts will roll out COVID-19 vaccines Frontline health care workers, residents of nursing homes and long-term-care facilities, emergency workers, and staff and residents of prisons and homeless shelters will be among the first to receive COVID-19vaccinations in Massachusetts. At a December 9, 2020, press conference, Gov. Charlie Baker said the state plans to distribute more than 2 million doses by the end of March 2021, and that the vaccine will be free to everyone. He said that the timing of the rollout would depend on federal authorizations for the vaccines. The Baker administration estimates that the first phase of vaccine distribution will run from December 2020 through February 2021. Vaccinations during phase 2—likely from February through April—will include, in order of priority, people with two or more conditions, such as asthma and diabetes, that put them at high risk for COVID-19 complications; early-education, K–12, transit, grocery, utility, food and agriculture, sanitation, public works, and public health workers; adults over age 65; and individuals with one complicating medical condition. The general public will receive vaccines during phase 3, roughly April through June.