Mass. long-term care facility vaccinations to start Monday
Photo | Grant Welker
A CVS pharmacy in Shrewsbury conducted coronavirus testing in spring 2020.
Patients at long-term care facilities in Massachusetts are set to be vaccinated for COVID-19 starting Monday, another milestone in what is expected to be a widespread rollout of vaccinations in the coming months to eventually end the pandemic.
CVS Health and Walgreens have been selected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to carry out vaccinations in Massachusetts and most other states at long-term care facilities, whose patients have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic, both in cases and deaths.
CVS said Monday it will begin vaccinations in Massachusetts starting Monday. Such vaccinations have already started in other states, including Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Massachusetts will be one of 36 other states to begin Monday. Walgreens has said its vaccinations will begin in Massachusetts and most other states next week beginning Monday or or once a jurisdiction is approved to begin by the CDC. It began vaccinations in Connecticut and Ohio on Dec. 18.
The two major pharmacy chains plan to quickly roll out vaccinations in the coming weeks. CVS said it will administer 20 million to 25 million shots per month with an expectation to complete the program in 12 weeks. Walgreens said it will provide vaccinations to nearly 3 million residents and staff at 35,000 long-term care facilities.
Residents at such facilities have been particularly susceptible to coronavirus, either because of older age, pre-existing conditions or the nature of living together in a shared facility. Residents at such facilities have accounted for 7,151 deaths, or roughly three out of five confirmed and suspected deaths, across Massachusetts. Nearly 30,000 residents or workers at such facilities have tested positive, or about 9% of the state's total.
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