State senator says Baker’s vaccine launch is leaving Cape Cod behind

Barnstable County on Cape Cod has the oldest population in Massachusetts; however, as the state prioritizes seniors at risk in their implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine, state senator Julian Cyr says the Cape is being “left behind.

Cyr, who represents most of the Cape and Islands, said during a conference call on Thursday that the disproportionately elderly and geographically isolated region is being underserved by vaccination sites and doses, even as Governor Charlie Baker intensifies efforts to take the most vulnerable vaccinated people aged 75 or over.

“I am frustrated, disappointed and, frankly, very angry,” said Democrat Truro during the call from the Cape Cod Response Task Force COVID-19.

Cyr pointed to the lack of a mass vaccination site on Cape Cod, as well as what he said was the insufficient distribution of vaccine doses to Barnstable County by the Baker administration. While the Republican governor announced this week that more than 100,000 new appointments at mass vaccination sites and pharmacies across the state would be made available, Cyr said that only 1,300 of them were in the Cape.

“These filled in 29 minutes,” he said.

“I continue to hear reports that there are thousands upon thousands of consultations available in Gillette in any given week,” said Cyr, referring to one of the state’s five mass vaccination sites. “For me, this indicates that the location where vaccines are being made available is not accessible to people who need them.”

According to Cyr, Barnstable County has almost twice the rate of residents over the age of 75 – 12.7% of the population, compared to 6.7% across the state. According to census figures, 31.4% of the population is over 65, the next group in the state’s vaccine distribution line. Across the state, 17% of the population is over 65 years old.

Still, in raw numbers, Barnstable County has tens of thousands of people less than 65 years old compared to significantly more populous counties like Middlesex, Suffollk and Worcester. The county is currently in the middle of the pack in terms of infections per capita, compared to other counties in Massachusetts.

The call on Thursday came after Baker announced plans on Wednesday to establish two more mass vaccination sites in Natick and Dartmouth, as well as a policy that allows younger individuals to accompany people over 75 years of age to an appointment at a mass vaccination site to also receive the vaccine.

Although the Cape has at least 10 small vaccination sites in pharmacies and elsewhere, the Baker administration has promoted the efficiency and scale of mass vaccination centers, each of which will increase to administer thousands of doses per day. Cyr said there were private discussions between the Baker administration and local stakeholders about expanding access to the vaccine on Cape Cod, including a potential mass vaccination site at Cape Cod Community College.

“It didn’t happen,” he said.

Baker originally said that the state planned to establish a total of seven mass vaccination sites, but more recently suggested that the state could open more as implantation progressed.

If the region does not have a mass vaccination site, Cyr urged the Baker government to distribute the doses to local health councils, which were already required to have infrastructure to install vaccination sites. So far, he said, only two of the county’s 15 health councils have received a dose.

“Logistically, we are ready to vaccinate people,” said Wendy Northcross, CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, during the call. “We just need more vaccine. We understand that there is a supply restriction. But we are ready. “

Cyr said he was confident that local health councils could “fill the gap” in the absence of the mass vaccination site, but that there was currently a palpable “exasperation” between local authorities and residents.

“We are actually the third oldest county in the country,” he said. “So now, at this stage of vaccination, that’s when we are at the height of our need.”