Veterans of all ages can now book vaccine appointments at Boston VA

BOSTON — Monday marked an important milestone in the fight against COVID-19.

For the first time Monday, all veterans enrolled in the VA Boston Healthcare system became eligible to receive Covid-19 shots, regardless of age.

“We want to see people get vaccinated, we want to see them get back to their lives to their grandchildren and family members, so for us, this is a really big day,” said Dr. Lori Lerner, the head of VA Boston’s Covid-19 relief efforts.

On the first day of vaccinations, Dr. Lerner was personally distributing the vaccine at VA Boston’s Jamaica Plain campus.

“These people went somewhere, they fought for us, they were in the military. Now we’re taking the lead in helping that herd immunity going and getting people back to their regular lives. That’s pretty powerful. And to be a part of that cannot be underscored,” Dr. Lerner said.

On Monday, a steady stream of veterans, many of them in wheelchairs, showed up at the Jamaica Plain campus to receive their first Moderna shot.

And like everyone else, the veterans have their concerns about the vaccine.

But they showed up without having to spend hours online looking for appointments, or waiting in long lines outside the facility, unlike thousands of people trying to gain access to appointments at mass vaccination sites.

“We went into today at just over 17,000. We are doing about 1,000 veterans a day. So that’s been pretty positive,” Dr. Lerner said. “And today we might do even more than that given some of the news. That is about 40 percent of the veterans enrolled in VA Boston.”c

VA Boston clinics are accepting walk-ins.

At Jamaica Plain and the other VA Boston campuses, appointments are helpful.

But staff are willing to do whatever is necessary to get these veterans vaccinated as soon as possible.

“Today we are able to just walk into the lobby and say, hey do you want your vaccine? Come on in! And we don’t have to ask any questions about anything. You’re here. You’re a vet. You want your vaccine? Let’s do it!” Dr. Lerner said.

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