Mass vaccination site to ramp up doses to 7,000 a day

BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky toured a mass vaccination site at the Hynes Convention Center on Tuesday as the location prepares to dramatically ramp up the number of vaccines it will begin to administer.

Beginning Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will begin allocating 6,000 doses a day to the site for the next week or so in addition to the 1,000 daily doses being supplied by the state.

The federal and state partnership to bolster the number of vaccinations there will be in place for the next eight weeks. FEMA said Tuesday there is no plan to continue supplying the site at that increased level past then.

Baker also said that some of the doses will be set aside for use in a new mobile vaccination program in hard-hit areas of Boston, Chelsea and Revere.

Baker cautioned against thinking that the increase in vaccinations means the pandemic is over in Massachusetts, pointing to a recent rise in cases. There has been about a 13% increase in cases in the past week alone here in the state.

“While we’re making great progress on vaccines, we can’t let this progress give us a false sense of security about the fight against COVID being over. COVID is still a serious, highly contagious virus with all sorts of new variants that are making it even more challenging,” Baker said.

Massachusetts still has a mask mandate, he added, urging residents not to let their guard down.

Walensky echoed Baker, cautioning that cases are rising across the country.

“We are just asking you to hang on a little bit longer,” said Walensky, who said she has encouraged all governors to keep mask mandates into effect.

In those states where governors have refused or eased mask mandates, Walensky said she is still encouraging residents to make the decision on their own to use masks.

“We all have to sort of take care and be careful, doing our masks and social distancing as cases rise,” said Walensky, who previously served as chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Related: CDC director warns of fourth COVID-19 surge, asks Americans to continue following public health measures

She explained that more spread could turn into a different version of the virus that the current vaccines won’t be able to protect against.

“The more virus that you have and the more variants that are circulating, there is more of a risk of mutation, and then those mutations could pose a risk against the [effectiveness] of these vaccines,” Walensky said.

In a national briefing, Dr. Walensky became emotional when talking about the surging numbers, even referencing impending doom. We asked her what she meant by doom.

“When I said I had a feeling of impending doom, it is sort of this feeling that I have surge after surge serving on the front lines at Massachusetts General Hospital and recognizing right now it is preventable,” she said.

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