Charlie Baker asks for patience with the launch of the coronavirus vaccine in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is scheduling about 120,000 new consultations for the COVID-19 vaccine this week.

But, according to Governor Charlie Baker, this does not necessarily mean that all eligible residents will be guaranteed to get one next week or the next.

“Everyone should understand that it can take several weeks in some cases to schedule an appointment,” Baker told reporters on Wednesday after a visit to Boston’s new mass vaccination site in Fenway Park, urging residents to be “patient” with the slow, though incipient, early stages of vaccine launch in the state.

“Vaccines are not going anywhere,” he added. “And they will continue to come to the community – and we believe in greater numbers – over the next few months.”

With federal approval for additional vaccines and increased supply, Baker said the state aims to administer one million doses a month this spring.

However, about a month and a half after the state was established, the Baker administration was examined for the slow pace of its distribution in relation to most other states. And while all residents over 75 can now – at least in theory – schedule vaccination appointments, the state’s only online registration system has been criticized by lawmakers and residents for being difficult to navigate, exacerbating frustrations with the number scarce schedules.

On Monday night, 654,104 doses were administered to Massachusetts residents.

“Look, I’m not happy with where we are,” said Baker on Wednesday. “I know that many other people don’t either. We have work to do and we know it. And one of the best things a good manager does is to recognize and understand that he has a problem and then strive to figure out how to solve it. “

Some adjustments are already in progress.

Baker reiterated that the state is working to establish a call center to help deal with vaccine appointments. According The Boston Globe, the hotline will be a “callback system”, in which qualified residents can request an appointment and then be notified when a place is available. According to Baker, the call center will be operational “this week”.

The state has also made adjustments to its vaccine nomination webpage, including a tool that allows users to search for sites based on their postal code. However, once users choose a website, the page sends them to the provider’s third-party website to register and schedule the actual appointment.

Dozens of lawmakers have called for a more centralized registration system, but Baker said “part of the challenge” is to make the state’s online system work with drugstore websites, supermarket chains and other third-party vendors.

“Many retail organizations have their own setup and are organized to serve their customers in quotes, which makes it a little tricky for us to facilitate the transaction as we would like,” Baker said.

The governor suggested that residents hoping to get an “first look” interview at one of the state’s mass vaccination sites, which are listing new times for next week every Thursday.

Baker said more than 55,000 new appointments will be published on Thursday at five locations: Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Fenway Park, Eastfield Mall in Springfield, the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel in Danvers and the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston (the latter is currently serving Boston residents only and will be open to people across the state by the end of the month).

The governor also noted that the state’s smallest vaccination sites – from pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS to supermarket chains like Stop & Shop and Wegmans to local hospitals, health clinics and city offices – would make more than 75,000 new appointments available each week.

President Joe Biden’s administration recently increased the state’s weekly vaccine shipments to 100,000 doses, and state officials expect to distribute 300,000 vaccines a week in mid-February.

Still, in addition to the application process, some health experts say Massachusetts should distribute vaccines more quickly – with cases of COVID-19, hospitalizations and deaths still relatively high, even with a downward trend. According to federal data, Bay State ranks 37th in vaccinations per capita, having administered 60% of the doses it received from the federal government.

Baker, however, defended the pace – noting that, unlike most other states, Massachusetts prioritized populations that face high risk of exposure and outbreaks of COVID-19 before opening consultations to the general public.

“There are some reasons for this unhappiness that have to do with the decisions we made early on, for which I do not apologize,” he said on Wednesday.

Rather than immediately allowing anyone over 65 years of age to receive a vaccine, as recommended by the federal government, Phase 1 of the Massachusetts launch prioritized health professionals, nursing homes, first responders, and congregated care facilities as shelters for homeless people, residential treatment programs, and prisons. The more complex delivery process has also been slowed by lower than expected vaccine acceptance rates among healthcare professionals and nursing home staff.

“I think we did the right thing there,” said Baker on Wednesday.

“But I understand the fact that it meant that other people had to wait,” he added. “And I’m not satisfied with where we are. I know that the vice governor and secretary Sudders don’t either. But one of the things we try to do as a government – and I think we’ve done well – is to be open to criticism and receive criticism and make adjustments and improve. “