Chelmsford May Ask State To Reconsider Vaccine Rollout

CHELMSFORD, MA — At least one Chelmsford official wants Gov. Charlie Baker to rethink his coronavirus vaccination rollout plan and bring back local, board of health run vaccination clinics.

Select Board members are considering requesting Baker to allow the town to once again receive and administer coronavirus vaccines. Up until mid-February, the town had been requesting and receiving about 100 doses of the vaccine on a weekly basis to administer. But when the federal supply of vaccine doses was slower than the state government anticipated the governor announced the state would be funneling more resources toward its largest vaccination sites at the expense of community-focused ones.

"It seems like four months ago, there was a big effort by the governor to get local boards of health to set up to [administer local vaccination clinics], and they took a lot of time," said Select Board member Pat Wojtas, who proposed the idea Monday night at the select board meeting, as a way to support the local board of health.

A draft of the letter reads in part:

Our local Board of Health, led by Health Director Sue Rosa, scrambled to set up the necessary logistical environment to handle all the requirements for acceptance, storage, handling, and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. Sue and her team in collaboration with Emergency Management and the surrounding partners within the coalition set up a regional dispensing site for first responders in 6 communities. As you are aware, this was not an easy task. Many town staff, including public safety employees, assisted with this herculean effort. There was an expectation that vaccination clinics would be continuing throughout the rollout phases until all eligible residents, who wanted a vaccine, would be vaccinated.

Wojtas said she was disappointed that the state changed course, and added she didn't want to go to a mass vaccination site, such as the ones set up at Gillette Stadium, or Fenway Park (now Hynes Convention Center) in Boston.

Wojtas said having a local site — in addition to the Lowell sites — would be beneficial to the town.

"To pull the plug on them is just, I thought, disrespectful at the very least," she said.

The other three board members said before signing the letter, they'd like to confer with the local board of health director.

17th Middlesex District State Rep. Vanna Howard, who represents Chelmsford sent a letter to Baker shortly after he announced the change in vaccine plan last month, urging him to “immediately implement a targeted strategy to leverage our community health care organizations’ expertise and experience,” instead of prioritizing the state’s mass vaccination sites. The letter was backed by 34 other legislators.

Previously: Chelmsford Vaccine Clinics Canceled Amid New State Rollout ...