In an effort to make the COVID-19 vaccine more accessible to residents 75 and older, Massachusetts plans to start this week by allowing anyone accompanying an eligible senior to one of the state’s mass vaccination sites to receive an injection.
As of Thursday, at mass vaccination sites, anyone accompanying a person aged 75 or older to receive the vaccine can schedule their own appointment to be vaccinated on the same day.
Governor Charlie Baker announces that anyone who accompanies residents 75 and older until the time of vaccination is also eligible to receive the vaccine. This goes into effect on Thursday.
Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said the new accommodation for relatives, friends, neighbors or trusted caregivers to be vaccinated along with vulnerable older adults came after consultation with advice on aging and other advocates for older adults.
While all mass vaccination sites are accessible for disabled people, places like Gillette Stadium or Fenway Park may be unfamiliar and intimidating to some, and allowing trusted companions to also be vaccinated is an effort to encourage more seniors to seek vaccine.
A caregiver must schedule their own online appointment for the same day and location as the resident aged 75 and over. Only one caregiver can accompany each resident.
Massachusetts says companions of people aged 75 and over may receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Download our mobile app to iOS or Android for the latest news and detailed coverage of COVID-19.
To schedule appointments for a resident aged 75 or over and a caregiver, go to mass.gov/covidvaccine and schedule two separate appointments at the same time or adjacent. For the companion consultation, select the option “I accompany someone over 75 years old for the vaccination consultation and my consultation is on the same day”. Anyone without Internet access can call 211 for help booking both appointments.
A caregiver can receive his first dose of the vaccine if the resident of 75 years or older is receiving his second dose.
People 75 and older are eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine in Massachusetts, but many other states have opened it up to people a decade younger. Some at Bay State are frustrated.
The state also announced that it will open two new mass vaccination sites this month at Natick Mall and Circuit City in Dartmouth.
The Natick website will partner with LabCorp to begin administering 500 injections per day on February 22, increasing to up to 3,000 doses per day.
The Dartmouth location will open two days later, on February 24, in partnership with Curtative. The site will also be able to serve 500 patients a day at the beginning and, eventually, it will be able to administer 2,000 vaccines per day, depending on the supply.
The commitments for the new sites will go online starting February 18.
Massachusetts was disapproved for its implementation of the coronavirus vaccine, considered one of the worst in the country in a Harvard report.
With Massachusetts now receiving about 108,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine per week from the federal government, Sudders said the state will post 100,000 consultations this week, including 74,000 new consultations that will be added online on Thursday.
Thirty new retail pharmacy sites are opening at CVS and Walgreens locations across the state, and Sudders said 30,000 of the new appointments will be at pharmacies.
Earlier this week, Baker said the mass vaccination sites were “hitting about 100% in terms of the vaccine allocated and administered, and will continue to operate at that level.”
The Department of Public Health reported on Tuesday that of the 1,283,700 doses of vaccine sent to Massachusetts so far, 910,412 doses have been administered, or about 70.9%.
The State House News Service contributed to this report.