Baker-Polito Administration Outlines Vaccination Plans for First Responders, Provides Vaccine Update

The following is a press release from the Mass Dept. of Public Health

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BOSTON – Today, January 4, the Baker-Polito Administration outlined plans to vaccinate the Commonwealth’s first responders, the next priority group within Phase One of the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan.

The Administration also launched a new interactive COVID-19 daily dashboard to provide a more user-friendly tool for the public to access data on the impact of COVID-19 in Massachusetts.

First Responder Vaccinations: Vaccinations for first responders, the third priority group within Phase 1 of the Commonwealth’s vaccine distribution timeline, will begin Monday, January 11. There are over 45,000 first responders across the Commonwealth, a diverse group that includes fire, police and EMTs, who serve state, local and regional entities.

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The Administration, through the COVID-19 Command Center and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, has worked with first responder organizations and departments about the best ways to vaccinate first responders effectively and safely. Based on these conversations, the Commonwealth today announced three options for first responder vaccinations:

1. Qualifying departments may request vaccines to be administered on-site.  Departments that would like to vaccinate their own first responder staff must follow the guidance for the Massachusetts COVID-19 Vaccine Program (MCVP) and have the capacity to vaccinate 200 individuals.
2. First responders can schedule an appointment at a first responder vaccination site. View a list of locations here.
3. Mass vaccination sites will also be available for first responders to access the vaccine, which will be launched by the Commonwealth in the coming weeks.

First responder departments and organizations can visit www.mass.gov/firstrespondervaccine to learn more about these options.

Vaccine Phase 2 Priority Group Adjustment

The Commonwealth today, January 4, is updating its Vaccine Distribution plan.

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Based on this recommendation of the COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory group, we are updating prioritization so that individuals age 75+ are included in Phase 2, Group 1, along with individuals of all ages with 2+ comorbidities. 

This follows revised recommendations from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) issued on December 22.

Following the ACIP change, the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 Advisory Group convened December 23 and 30 to discuss any changes to its previous recommendations were warranted. The Group came to consensus on a single change to the current recommendations, taking into particular consideration ACIP’s highlighting of individuals age 75 and older as being at particular risk of serious complications of COVID-19.

The revised vaccine distribution timeline will be reflected on www.mass.gov/covidvaccine later today, January 4.

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