What to do if the snow impacts your coronavirus vaccine appointment

The snowstorm pummeling Massachusetts into Tuesday afternoon has messed up coronavirus vaccine appointments amid a huge effort to ramp up the number of shots being administered.

Providers from the vaccination sites have been contacting those with appointments to reschedule.

“If people cannot safely get to their appointments, they will also be allowed to reschedule directly with the provider with whom they scheduled that vaccination,” Gov. Charlie Baker said at a Monday press conference ahead of the storm.

At Gillette Stadium, people with appointments scheduled for after 3 p.m. had to be rescheduled for a new slot later this week and patients were advised to check their email for information on how to do so.

The site is prepared to ramp up to 2,500 vaccinations a day in the coming weeks and months.

“I think the big goal for the mass vax sites is gonna be to try to get as many of the folks who are scheduled today through … and folks who are nervous about traveling given the storm, they will do what they can to get them rescheduled this week,” Baker said.

The state Department of Transportation was set to help clear snow at mass vaccination sites, Baker added.

The Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury was scheduled to open on Monday but due to the weather, all appointments have been pushed to the same time next week, on Feb. 8, Mayor Martin Walsh announced.

That clinic will vaccinate about 1,000 people a week, said Walsh.

Another Boston mass vaccination site, Fenway Park, opened on Monday and had to shift appointments to earlier in the day, according to CIC Health which runs the center. Patients who need to reschedule their appointment will be invited to do so via email.

Guidance on the state website says people should contact individual vaccine locations if they have questions about cancellations or rescheduling.

Monday marked the first day of Phase 2 of vaccination efforts in the Bay State, meaning residents age 75 and older now qualify to get a shot and can sign up for an appointment.

Vaccine rollout in Massachusetts has already been challenging without the complications of winter weather.

Local and state officials have promised improvements in supply, appointments and technology in the coming days and weeks.

Still, Massachusetts is falling behind the nation in terms of the amount of supply that has gone out to priority groups, with only about 51% of vaccines delivered to the state used, according to a Bloomberg vaccine tracker.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3cyaELs