Andover To Complete First Responder First Doses This Week

ANDOVER, MA — Andover officials expect to complete the first dose of first responder vaccinations by the end of the week, ahead of vaccinations for those 75 and older beginning next week, Health Director Tom Carbone told the Select Board Monday.

"We're not quite complete with our public safety clinic," he said. "We're expecting more vaccinations this week and within the week we'll be complete with that first round."

Second doses will arrive next week, he said; the Moderna vaccine, which the town is using, requires second doses be administered four weeks after the first.

Vaccinations begin statewide for residents 75 and older Monday, Carbone said, but the town has been told it will probably not get enough doses for all such residents until at least March.

"Through February, we should expect 100 doses a week," the health director said. "With over 800 residents over 75, that's not going to get us very far ... Just because we've got the approval, it doesn't mean the supply chain is up to getting everyone done at once."

Carbone said that officials have been planning the town's clinics and registration process.

"I'm very confident we'll have sites that will allow us to process somewhere between 600 and 1000 people a day if the vaccine is there," he said. "We have a lot of volunteers coming out of the woodwork to help out with vaccinations."

But even when the doses are available, the process will take time, he noted. Because it's a new vaccine, every recipient will need to stay at least 15 minutes after they receive the vaccine, to make sure they don't have a reaction.

"Less than half a percent have some sort of reaction," Carbone noted.

Most registration will be done online, but Carbone said he's working with the Senior Center to figure out alternatives for those who are not sufficiently tech-savvy.

The full meeting is available here, from AndoverTV.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.