Fenway Park to become mass vaccination site on Feb. 1

BOSTON — Massachusetts on Tuesday designated the site of its next COVID-19 mass vaccination site: Fenway Park.

Starting Feb. 1, the ballpark will begin administering 500 vaccines per day by appointment and will soon ramp up to providing 1,000 vaccines per day to eligible residents in Phase One priority groups under the state’s vaccination plan, state officials said.

CIC Health will operate the site, with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as the medical director.

The site is expected to stay open through the beginning of baseball season in early April. The state’s COVID-19 Command Center is also working with Boston officials to identify and set up a longer-term vaccine site in the city.

The decision follows the opening this week of Gillette Stadium as the state’s first mass vaccination site. The site is expected to work up to administering over 1,000 vaccinations per day, and soon after, 5,000 vaccinations per day for those eligible under Phase One, including first responders.

[ Gillette Stadium opens for first responder vaccinations; workers, residents in congregate care to get first shots ]

Also Tuesday, state officials announced that Massachusetts will be among the first states to activate retail pharmacy vaccination at scale through select CVS Health and Walgreens, which will start inoculating eligible residents in Phase One priority groups by appointment.

Starting this week, at least 15 CVS Health and Walgreens, located in areas of the state where there is currently less access to convenient vaccine sites, will receive a total of 10,000 vaccines. The sites are located in Greenfield, Fall River, Salem, South Yarmouth, Pittsfield, Lee, Holden, Gardner, Hyannis, Mashpee, Somerset, Fairhaven, Haverhill, Saugus and Danvers.

Eligible residents in Phase One priority groups can view sites and book an appointment online.

Also this week, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst has expanded their role to administer COVID-19 vaccines, providing vaccinations for all eligible groups in Phase One, officials said. This high capacity site will serve eligible groups in the Western Mass area.

Another 40 vaccination sites will be added next week with the state expecting to increase vaccine volume through retail pharmacies in the coming weeks.

Those eligible under Phase One include health care workers doing direct and COVID-facing care; long-term care facilities, rest homes and assisted living facilities; first responders (EMS, fire, police); and congregate care settings (including prisons and shelters).

Fenway will join Gillette Stadium as the only mass vaccination sites in Massachusetts.

Residents who qualify under Phase 1 of the vaccine priority list will be allowed to sign up for shots.

[ COVID-19 updates: Number of reported new cases, deaths drop as fewer molecular tests administered in Mass. ]

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