Massachusetts booster sites: Mobile vaccination clinics pop up, as pharmacy appointments hard to find
The state is rolling out COVID-19 mobile pop-up vaccination clinics, as many people struggle to find booster appointments at pharmacies across the region.
Four of the community-based, short-term vaccination clinics were held on Sunday in Chelsea, Everett, Methuen and Fall River — and more of these clinics are set for this week as Bay Staters seek out booster doses.
Gov. Charlie Baker said Sunday the shots are available at 800 locations statewide, but officials may “may need to do more” to keep up with demand.
“A couple weeks ago you could get a booster pretty much anywhere on a walk-in basis. We now have seen a very significant increase since we started talking about boosters for everybody over age 18 and that means we may have to up our game a little with respect to additional capacity,” Baker said.
Coronavirus cases are surging in Massachusetts, and many residents are hoping to get a third shot as soon as possible for extra protection this winter. All fully vaccinated people who are 18-plus are eligible for the booster, and more than 1 million people in the state have already received the third dose.
Some residents trying to find appointments at local pharmacies have been struggling, however.
“No time slots are available for this date at this location,” the CVS message reads for many locations in the Greater Boston area. “Try choosing another location or day.”
A CVS spokesperson on Sunday said they’re “continuing to book appointments and administer COVID-19 vaccines and we encourage patients to make appointments at CVS.com on or the CVS Pharmacy app.”
While those appointments have been hard to come by, people on Sunday without appointments walked in to the state’s mobile pop-up vaccination clinics and got the shot within 20 to 30 minutes.
The mobile pop-up vaccination clinics coming up this week include: New Bedford, McCoy Center, Monday from 2 to 7 p.m.; Chelsea Senior Center, Monday from 2 to 7 p.m.; Nahant Town Hall, Tuesday from 3 to 8 p.m.; Amherst, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Arts, Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m.; and Chelsea Senior Center, Friday from 2 to 5 p.m.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3Ehli4l.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/318PNue
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