MA To Add 5 Mass Vaccination Sites, Dozens Of Smaller Centers

MASSACHUSETTS — Massachusetts officials announced plans to open dozens of new vaccination sites including five mass vaccination centers in coming weeks Monday, ahead of making those 75 and older eligible Feb. 1.

Details on two of the sites are not yet available, but the following three will join the Gilette Stadium and Fenway Park vaccination centers:

• Eastfield Mall in Springfield, opening Jan. 29
• Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Danvers, opening Feb. 3
• Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, opening in the first week of Feb.

The state is also opening 57 more local sites including 43 at pharmacies and retail locations like CVS and Stop and Shop. Some of those sites will be restricted to certain groups.

With the new sites, the state will have the capacity to administer 242,000 vaccines per week, and 305,000 by mid-February. But the state does not expect to get that many doses from the federal government in coming weeks, Gov. Charlie Baker said at a news conference.

"We can only move as fast as the federal government ships vaccines to the Commonwealth," Baker said.

In order to get more supply for retail and pharmacy sites, the state is taking back supply allocated to the federal pharmacy partnership, which is responsible for vaccinations at long-term care facilities, as they have been "slower to ramp up than initially anticipated."

As of Jan. 19, the program had been allocated 300,000 doses and only 80,000 had been administered. Vaccine uptake has only been around 50 percent for long-term care staff, Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said.

The state has redirected 17,000 doses per week from the program to CVS and Walgreens retail pharmacies and pulled back 20,000 doses to distribute directly to state providers.

Retail pharmacies "must prioritize" communities hit hardest by the virus in Chelsea, Revere, Mattapan, Roxbury, Dorchester and other municpalities, Sudders said.

In addition, Sudders said, hospitals did not receive more vaccine inventory this week.

"We made it crystal clear that providers have 10 days from receipt of the vaccine to administration," Sudders said. "If we must, we will redistribute these fragile vaccines to other providers."

Officials also said that the prioritization order has been changed, with those over 65 being moved into the second spot in phase two. Phase two is now, in order:

• People 75 or older
• People 65 or older and people with two or more comorbidities
• Other workers including teachers, food service workers, public health workers and transit/transportation workers
• People with one comorbidity

People 65 and older were previously further down in the prioritization. Those 75 and older can begin registering for appointments Wednesday ahead of the Feb. 1 eligibility expansion.