MA Vaccination Timeline: Everyone Over 16 Eligible By April 19

Hundreds of thousands of essential workers and people in their 60s will on Monday be eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccination, while every other Massachusetts resident 16 and over will be eligible by April 19, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Wednesday morning.

People 60-64 and those with certain jobs will be eligible to book appointments March 22. That group includes workers in transit, grocery, utility, food and agriculture, sanitation, public works and public health workers.

People 55-59 and those a medical condition that makes people more susceptible to serious illness from COVID-19 will be eligible April 5.

Everyone else 16 and older will be eligible April 19.

Eligibility does not mean availability. Baker's administration has stressed that it could take weeks for people to be notified of open appointments, depending on supply.

The announcement comes less than a week after President Joe Biden challenged all states to make every adult eligible for the vaccine by May.

Gov. Charlie Baker, speaking in Brockton, said this timeline matches up with the original three-phase vaccination plan announced in December. The general public had long been scheduled to be vaccinated sometime in April.

The state's vaccination rollout has appeared to recover after a disastrous start that included a high-profile website crashing the first day it launched, no call center and ludicrous wait times for people hoping to snag an appointment.

People can now preregister for vaccination appointments and a call center has been established.

Baker said he has been assured by the White House that the federal supply chain of vaccinations will soon increase — something the governor has said will allow the state to inoculate people at a much quicker rate.

"The news about the arrival of more vaccine from the federal government means we will be able to move faster to get doses to our residents, and this is long overdue and welcome," Baker said. "We are all eager to get back to something like normal, and see our friends and loved ones again. The vaccines can't come fast enough."

Baker said there 1.6 million people have gotten at least one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines while another 63,000 have gotten the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. More than 946,000 residents are fully vaccinated, with that number expected to top 1 million Thursday.