Fenway Park mass vaccination site to move to Hynes Convention Center

BOSTON — Governor Baker announced Thursday that the Fenway Park vaccination site will now move to Hynes Convention Center due to the ballpark hosting limited fans starting April 1.

The Fenway vaccination site will close on March 27. The new Hynes Convention Center vaccination site will open on March 18.

The vaccine appointments for next week are already gone. Governor Charlie Baker was asked about the constrained supply of vaccines at this briefing in Lawrence after touring a vaccination clinic. We asked the Governor if there is any talk of booking appointments a few weeks out so people are not forced to fight for the limited one-week supply of appointments. The Governor says that would only lead to cancellations based on the current track record.

“None of the vendors are actually playing at the level they said they would be playing out a few weeks ago and that is exactly why we have been very cautious about pushing this out to what we are permitted to order week to week,” said Governor Baker.

The state has been opening appointments week by week based on the hard number of vaccines they are getting. The Governor told us it gets complicated when you start estimating available appointments along with second doses for that week. The Governor says with the current vaccine supply it could take about a month to get everyone currently eligible to be vaccinated.

“I would like to put everybody into the mix but at this point in time we are following a list and the biggest thing on this list was people who were most vulnerable to Covid,” said Governor Baker.

The Governor is anticipating a sharp increase in vaccines by the end of the month on top of the newest vaccine coming on-line in full by then.

“Anyone scheduled for a second dose at Fenway Park beyond that time frame will have their appointment honored at Hynes,” said Baker.

“We are beyond grateful for our instrumental partnership with the Boston Red Sox to establish our mass vaccination site at Fenway Park. Since beginning operations, we have collectively administered more than 25,000 vaccinations at the site, and we anticipate that number will reach 55,000 before transitioning operations from Fenway Park to the Hynes Convention Center.

Vaccination operations at Fenway Park will continue as scheduled, and all appointments booked through March 27 will be honored. We will contact all individuals with second-shot appointments already scheduled after March 27 at Fenway Park to arrange for them to receive their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine instead at the Hynes.

We look forward to applying the critical lessons learned at Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, and the Reggie Lewis Center to our new mass vaccination site scheduled to soft launch at the Hynes Convention Center on March 18.

The Hynes Convention Center is easily accessible by public transportation and is centrally located in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. With the expanded capacity at the Hynes, CIC Health will quickly ramp up to administering 5,000 vaccines per day on-site, with the opportunity to expand based on the State’s vaccine supply.

The vaccination landscape in Massachusetts continues to evolve quickly, and it is our goal to keep everyone informed as we receive updates from the Commonwealth. CIC Health remains prepared, ready, and able to offer safe vaccination distribution at Gillette Stadium, the Reggie Lewis Center, and soon, the Hynes Conventions Center.

CIC Health extends its sincere gratitude to all of its partners at the Fenway Park mass vaccination site: the entire Boston Red Sox organization, including Owners John Henry and Tom Werner, President & CEO Sam Kennedy, Executive VP & COO Jonathan Gilula, SVP of Fan Services & Entertainment Sarah McKenna, and VP of Corporate Communications Zineb Curran; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Dr. Edward Ullman, BIDMC Emergency Medicine MD and Director of Fenway First Aid; Cataldo Ambulance; DMSE Sports; and PWN Health.”

—  CIC Health statement

Baker said the state is on track to administer 250,000 doses next week, but only 12,000 new appointments were made available due to the high volume of second dose shots already scheduled and about 13,000 appointments made for seniors through the state’s call center that limited the availability online.

1 million people will be eligible for vaccinations next week as the shots become available to teachers, school staff, and child care workers, but due to the continued limited supply of about 150,000 doses a week, Governor Baker said the state would not be diverting any doses specifically for teachers and school staff.

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