How to get the COVID-19 vaccine at Fenway Park

Fenway Park is expected to admit hundreds of Massachusetts residents a day – but not for baseball, of course.

The 112-year-old home of the Red Sox is serving as the state’s second largest mass vaccination site COVID-19, with plans to administer about 500 doses of vaccines a day when Phase 2 of the Massachusetts launch begins on Monday , before increasing to 1,250 the following week.

State officials are working to create more than 100 public vaccination sites, large and small, in Massachusetts. However, it is difficult to say that one is as unique as Jersey Street.

It works like this:

First, ffind out if you are eligible:

The Fenway Park vaccination site is open to all Massachusetts residents – not just Boston residents – who are eligible to receive the vaccine under the state’s three-phase prioritization plan.

On opening day, Monday, this means anyone included in Phase 1 who has not yet received the vaccine and the first priority group in Phase 2: residents over 75.

Governor Charlie Baker’s administration said the deployment will expand to other Phase 2 groups – individuals over 65, people with health problems that make them vulnerable to COVID-19 and frontline workers as teachers – at the end of February.

The rest of the public will be eligible for Phase 3, which officials say should begin in April.

While it is unclear when fans will be allowed to return to the stadiums in Massachusetts, officials plan to keep the venue functioning at least until the beginning of the baseball season this spring.

Rachel Wilson, director of operations for CIC Health, the Cambridge company that manages the Fenway Park vaccination site, told Boston.com that they will not be open during the games, but expects to have at least a limited number of days like Red Sox are playing.

“Our goal is, in fact, to keep this as long as possible, even if there are some disruptions to the schedule,” said Wilson.

Schedule an appointment:

Individuals can register for a consultation through the CIC Health website. Click on “schedule now” in Fenway Park and search by date to find an available time.

Consultations are currently available from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays, although CIC Health says they plan to expand this time to 8 am to 6 pm and also on weekends in some weeks.

However, a note of caution: due to the limited national supply of vaccine doses, consultations in Massachusetts are scarce and fill up quickly. Case in point, Fenway Park schedules had already been booked during the first week of February.

Officials currently plan to list new appointments for the next week each Thursday, although that may change later to ensure that everyone has a fair chance of booking a place.

(Again, there are over a hundred other vaccination sites in Massachusetts, including another mass vaccination site at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood.)

Getting there:

As usual, there are several public transport options to reach Fenway, whether by MBTA metro, train or bus.

Parking around Fenway is usually quite limited and – unlike the vaccine itself – is not free.

There are several dozen paid parking lots and garages within walking distance of the park. However, with traffic generally slowing due to the pandemic, authorities suggest parking meters on the streets as an option. There is also reserved parking for disabled people along Jersey Street, between Van Ness Street and Boylston Street.

For the sake of your meter, the team estimates that the entire process takes about 45 minutes to an hour.

When you’re there:

OK, now the exciting part:

Patients enter Gate A of Fenway Park – located at the corner of Brookline Avenue and Jersey Street – at the vaccination site, which passes along the third baseline lobby.

Upon arrival, they will be asked to check in and do a health check. It is necessary to cover the face in place, and patients will be asked to put on a new surgical mask provided by the team to replace or put on the existing mask.

“It is very important for us to ensure that there is no COVID scattered here on the site,” said Wilson, director of operations at CIC Health.

After check-in, the patient will line up in the lobby while waiting to be called to the vaccination stations.

Aware of the winter, Red Sox and CIC Health officials insisted on organizing the scheduling process to avoid waiting outside. Although they plan to remain open and keep appointments during inclement weather, such as snow, the team will notify individuals to cancel and reschedule their appointments if conditions become unsafe.

When a station opens, patients will be escorted through the lobby (the team will also have wheelchairs available) to a row of tables near Sam Stadium’s third baseline bar, where the team with protective equipment manages the actual shots . Fenway currently administers the vaccine developed by Pfizer.

The CIC health team says the vaccine process takes about five minutes.

Patients will then be taken to an adjacent observation area for 15 minutes (or 30 minutes for some patients) to be monitored if they have an immediate reaction to the vaccine. It is during this time that the team will come and help them schedule their second booster injection for approximately 21 days later.

After the patients finish their time in the observation area, the site also offers several closed viewpoints overlooking the countryside. The website also has buttons that say “I was vaccinated at Fenway Park”.

After a smooth launch last Thursday and Friday, the team hopes that photo opportunities and buttons will serve as a tool to encourage other residents to get the vaccine, amid evidence that about a quarter of Americans are hesitant. about the photos.

“It’s very surreal,” said Wilson. “Our goal is to vaccinate everyone here, so that we can get back to playing as soon as possible.”