Vaccine Site At Tufts Includes Arlington, As Doses Awaited

Arlington MA

24 March, 2021

2:40 PM

Description

Your Arlington Last Updated: 23 March 2021 Written by state Health Dept., Marc Levy, Susan Gilbert UPDATED: The state Department of Public Health has approved a regional vaccination collaborative that includes Arlington, Cambridge, Medford, Somerville and five other communities, the Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) and Tufts University, CambridgeDay reports. It could offer vaccinations to local residents if the state allocates any doses to the partnership – but right now there is no vaccine available, Cambridge's chief public health officer, Claude Jacob, told Cambridge's City Council on Monday. The plan for a Metro North Covid-19 Vaccination Partnership was approved March 16 by the state. Proposed sites for vaccination centers so far are the Gantcher Family Sports and Convocation Center on Tufts' Medford campus and a CHA site near Target, between Inman Square and Somerville's Inner Belt neighborhood, Jacob said. Both have parking and are along bus lines. "Other sites TBD," according to a slide in his presentation. There is no start date. "The launch of the Metro North vaccination site is contingent on more vaccine supply becoming available," Jacob said. "The city will actively promote the regional sites once we have the go-ahead from the state." The state cut most local health agencies out of vaccination plans in February and steered residents to big mass vaccination sites such as Fenway Park or Gillette Stadium that officials deemed more efficient. Cambridge City Manager Louis A. DePasquale said Feb. 22 that the city was talking to unnamed regional partners about a vaccination site "supported" by the Cambridge Health Alliance that would serve as the "regional health care delivery system" for residents. Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine hinted at the news to come to the Select Board on Monday, March 22: "Vaccine dosages are increasing, so we hope to soon offer vaccines closer than Fenway Park." YourArlington.com has provided news and opinion about Arlington, Mass., since 2006. Publisher Bob Sprague is a former editor at The Boston Globe, Boston Herald and Arlington Advocate. Read more at https://www.yourarlington.com/about.