State: It will take ‘about a month’ for eligible residents to secure vaccine appointment

BOSTON — In a new tweet Thursday morning, the state says due to its limited supply, it will take “about a month” for all eligible residents to secure their vaccine appointments. The tweet comes after the 12,000 appointments released Thursday filled up quickly.

Just after 7 a.m. Thursday, the state tweeted that appointments for next week at Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, and the Reggie Lewis Center are filled.

By 10:30 a.m., the state said all available vaccines at mass vaccination sites for next week had been booked.

The state said that’s because of limited federal supply and a large number of second-dose appointments.

This week, only 12,000 appointments were made available, a sharp decrease from the 50,000 first-dose appointments last week.

So what changed?

The state received 250,000 doses this week.

• A majority of those doses will be set aside for hospitals, health clinics, and pharmacies.
• The state is prioritizing patients needing their second dose, so 45,000 have been designated for that.
• Another 7,500 are dedicated for older adults who can’t book their appointments online and need to call 211.

Teachers were eligible to book appointments at CVS locations Thursday morning, since their doses are provided by the federal government, which has already prioritized educations.

In Massachusetts, 400,000 teachers are eligible to sign up through the state site beginning next week, Thursday, March 11.

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