Boston – The Baker-Polito administration announced today that residents over 55 and residents with a particular medical condition will be eligible for the vaccine on Monday, April 5.º.
In addition, the administration announced that Massachusetts will adopt the CDC’s updated list of medical conditions. This week, the CDC added more medical conditions that are associated with an increased risk of serious COVID-19 disease (full list here). Massachusetts will adopt this guideline and make individuals eligible as of April 5 if they have one of these medical conditions. As a result of adopting the CDC list, more residents will be eligible as of April 5.
55+ and residents with a certain medical condition
On Monday, April 5º, residents over 55 and residents with a particular medical condition will be eligible to receive the vaccine at any of the more than 300 vaccination sites in the Community, including 269 pharmacies. With this group, more than 1 million additional residents will be eligible for the vaccine in the Community.
The full timeline is available at mass.gov/COVIDVaccinePhases.
The government was informed earlier this week of a single increase in the shipment of 100,000 J&J vaccines that will arrive in the state early next week. Depending on the supply from the federal government, it may take weeks for people to be notified that an appointment is available at a mass vaccination site.
Individuals can learn more about Commonwealth vaccination and pre-registration locations by visiting vaxfinder.mass.gov.
CDC Guidance
According to the CDC guidelines, the Commonwealth has adopted recent additions to the list of conditions that cause individuals to be at an increased risk of serious illnesses caused by COVID-19.
Individuals with one of the following conditions are eligible on Monday, April 5:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- Chronic lung diseases, including COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma (moderate to severe), interstitial lung disease, cystic fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension
- Dementia or other neurological conditions
- Diabetes (type 1 or type 2)
- Down’s syndrome
- Cardiac conditions (such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies or hypertension)
- HIV infection
- Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system)
- Liver disease
- Overweight and obesity
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease or thalassemia
- Smoking, current or previous
- Transplantation of solid organ or blood stem cells
- Stroke or cerebrovascular disease, which affects blood flow to the brain
- Substance use disorders
For individuals who have already applied but would like to update their information to reflect the new medical conditions recognized by the CDC and Massachusetts on April 5º: Management is creating a resource for people to edit their submissions which will be available soon.
Guidance for the celebration of the holiday
While vaccination efforts continue across the Community, it is important that residents celebrate Easter and the Easter weekend responsibly. Residents are encouraged to celebrate with their immediate family, wear masks and, if there is a small celebration, consider holding it outside if the weather helps. If you can’t celebrate outside, make sure you open the windows to allow for fresh air.
Residents must continue to practice social detachment, limit their interactions with those closest to them and engage in physical detachment.
Individuals are encouraged to take the test if they feel unwell or if they feel they have been exposed to COVID-19. The test is free and widely available, with more than 400 test sites in the community.
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