Gillette Stadium opens for first responder vaccinations; workers, residents in congregate care to get first shots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The state’s first mass vaccination site officially opens at Gillette Stadium Monday and people living and working in congregate care settings can begin getting their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

First responders and health care workers who haven’t yet gotten their first shot and are part of Phase 1 of the state’s vaccine rollout plan can get vaccinated at Gillette Stadium. The site, operated by Cambridge-based CIC Health, will have about 500 appointments available each day this week, and over 1,200 daily appointments starting next week, a CIC spokesperson said Monday.

Starting Monday, about 94,000 people living and working in congregate care settings like group homes, residential treatment centers and correctional facilities are also eligible to get a shot.

Some congregate-care facilities will self-administer the vaccine, others have partnered with Walgreens and CVS to get the shots administered, and others will use the mass vaccination site at Gillette.

For facilities operated by the state Department of Correction, about 6,500 inmates and 4,500 officers and staff members are expected to get the vaccine in the next three weeks, Gov. Charlie Baker said at a news conference last week.

Based on the state’s current vaccine rollout timeline, Phase 2 will begin in February and will include people 65 and older, teachers, transit workers, and grocery store workers. Residents and staff at low-income senior housing were also added to the Phase 2 rollout.

The rest of the general public is slated to begin getting the vaccine in April.

Baker said he anticipates there will be four or five such mass vaccination sites set up around the state by the end of the month. The combination of those locations, pharmacies, health care providers and community health centers “starts to look like the type of infrastructure that we’ll need to start doing thousands and thousands and thousands of these every day,” Baker said.

A Thursday report from the Department of Public Health shows that, as of Tuesday, a total of 347,450 doses had been shipped to Massachusetts, and 239,147 of those doses -- a little more than two-thirds -- have been administered.

Mass vaccination site at Gillette Stadium opens to first responders

The State House News Service contributed to this report

Read more:

‘Where are the vaccines?’: Baker, other governors asking feds about promised doses

25 Investigates: Top vaccine rollout doctor in Mass. says evolving federal policy is big hurdle

Complete COVID-19 vaccine coverage >>

Download the free Boston 25 News app for up-to-the-minute push alerts

>> Complete local and national coronavirus coverage here

RESOURCES:

- Complete local and national coronavirus coverage here

- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Watch Boston 25 NOW

- Download our free apps for your phone and smart TV