Vaccinations begin Tuesday at Mass. Soldiers’ Homes in Chelsea and Holyoke

CHELSEA, Mass. — Residents at both of Massachusetts’ Soldiers’ Homes for Veterans are set to start receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday.

Doses are set to arrive at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home around 10 a.m. and at the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home around 10:30 a.m.

About 12,000 people in Massachusetts have died of COVID-19 so far, and nearly two-thirds of those people were residents at long-term care facilities.

Dominic Pitella, a U.S. Army Corps Veteran, will be the first resident vaccinated at the Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea, according to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

Pitella, a Corporal in the U.S. Army Air Corps and former cook with the 559th Air Service Group, served in the Pacific Theater during World War II from 1945 to 1946, the office said.

Pitella’s service has earned him the Army of Occupation Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the office said. He has lived at the Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea since April 2018.

At the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Robert Aucoin, a United States Air Force Veteran, will be the first resident vaccinated, according to the office.

U.S. Air Force Airman 2nd class Aucoin, 78, served during the Vietnam era from 1961 to 1965.

He was stationed at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina, the office said, and served as the control tower operator. He has lived at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke since April 2018.

The Holyoke Soldiers’ Home made national headlines after an investigation revealed the leadership team made a series of catastrophic errors that lead to the deaths of 76 veterans. This was one of the worst outbreaks at a long-term care facility in the United States.

Two former top administrators at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke have pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence charges connected to the deaths.

Meanwhile, federal lawmakers are urging Gov. Charlie Baker to appoint an independent investigator to look into what caused the coronavirus outbreak at the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home that claimed the lives of 31 veterans.

Cox Media Group