Health

Mass vaccination sites help COVID-19 vaccine rollout run smoother

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — After weeks of complaints about the vaccine rollout -- from challenges to score an appointment to long waits for people 75 and older in the cold -- the Baker administration now says its vaccine distribution is getting better. And people at the mass vaccination site at Gillette Stadium seem to agree.

“Very easy,” said Tracy Barber. And she was not alone in praising the process.

“This went beautiful. I can’t believe it,” said Howard Alpert.

A Baker administration official told Boston 25 News:

  • Massachusetts is now #10 in the U.S. for vaccinations per capita (the state was ranked 33rd at one point)
  • Massachusetts is #1 for total shots administered per capita (this week) among the 24 states with 5 million people

Those new numbers are a big turn around and, in part, it’s due to mass vaccination sites like those run by CIC Health at Fenway and Gillette.

“I think what the mass vaccinations sites allow you to do is take care of more people far more quickly and in a really efficient way,” said Rachel Wilson, Chief Operating Officer for CIC Health.

Alpert said once he saw the vaccine operation firsthand, he was no longer surprised.

“Not at all, not at all you’ve got to give people time,” Alpert said.

And for people like Barber, signing up online and receiving the shot was simple.

“Yes, I think it was a smooth operation. All said and done within an hour,” Barber said.

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