AP
March 16, 2021 | 10:14
BOSTON (AP) – About 30% of Massachusetts State Police employees have not received the COVID-19 vaccination, although the department has offered vaccines at their own clinics, according to state data.
On Friday, 2,002 of the 2,847 eligible State Police employees, including civilians, received at least one dose at one of the department’s clinics in Framingham, Plymouth or Chicopee, according to data released in response to a Boston Globe request.
Some who have not been vaccinated at a department clinic may have received a vaccine elsewhere or may have declined because of medical conditions, although the exact numbers are unclear, said department spokesman David Procopio.
The union representing soldiers and sergeants said it had not spoken out about vaccines.
The union’s only guidance to its 1,900 members was to consult its personal doctors, said Nancy Sterling, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts State Police Association.
It is not clear whether the vaccine is hesitant.
“We don’t know if there is any hesitation. There certainly could be. It is not something we are asking, ”said Sterling.
Dr. David Hamer, an infectious disease specialist at Boston University, said that vaccinating state troops is important because of his close encounters with the public.
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