Worcester health center focusing on community vaccination efforts

Photo | Grant Welker Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center's Milford medical clinic

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By Sam Bonacci

Worcester’s Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center announced Monday it has been expanding efforts to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to the Central Massachusetts communities through ongoing partnerships.

After vaccinating thousands of its patients, Kennedy Community Health is now focusing on hard-to-reach populations, including those whose work schedules present challenges to scheduling appointments or visiting off-site locations, according to a release.

“We are pleased to be able to expand our reach beyond our health center doors to help ensure that anyone who wants the COVID-19 vaccine can get it safely, easily and for free,” Kennedy Community Health President and CEO Stephen Kerrigan said in the release. “Working in partnership with area organizations and businesses will boost our efforts to make the vaccine readily available.”

In order to reach the student population in Worcester, Kennedy Community Health has collaborated with Worcester Public Schools as part of the state’s vaccine equity initiative to vaccinate middle and high school students. Family members age 12 and above can also get vaccinated at the school clinics.

Kennedy Community Health also partnered with UMass Memorial Health by supplying hundreds of vaccine doses, provided by the federal government, to be administered by the UMass team at a vaccine clinic located at the Marriott in Marlborough, and began offering Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccines at Polar Park during Worcester Red Sox home games.