Salem State Coronavirus Vaccination Site Approved At Long Last

SALEM, MA — The months-long quest among North Shore cities and towns to have a regional coronavirus vaccination site approved at Salem State University finally got the go-ahead on Tuesday.

Salem partnered with Beverly, Lynn, Peabody, Danvers, Marblehead, Nahant, Saugus and Swampscott for the regional collaborative to go along with the state's mass vaccination site in Danvers, the federal pharmacy program and other local clinics.

The state approved the application on Tuesday with shots expected to be coming soon for those age 16 and older.

"As we work to expand access and equity in vaccine distribution, this regional clinic site will help to better serve the tens of thousands of North Shore residents who are in need of and seeking this critical vaccine," Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll said. "We are stronger and safer as a region when we work to ensure the public health of all our residents.

"By providing access to the COVID vaccine, free of charge and to anyone — whether or not they have health insurance and regardless of immigration status — we can move closer to the day when this awful pandemic is finally over."

In March, Driscoll said a Salem State site could do more than 1,100 shots a day and that she was awaiting state approval then for the site based on federal shipments of the vaccine.

Appointments can be booked here under "North Shore Regional Vaccination Clinic." The type of vaccine available will depend on federal shipments. Currently, the Pfizer vaccine is the only one approved for those ages 16 and older, with Moderna and J&J approved for those 18 and older.

Salem State was the site of a regional vaccination site early in the state's vaccine rollout when first responders, health care workers and public nurses were among those eligible for the vaccine. But as Gov. Charlie Baker shifted the state's shot allocation to the mass vaccination sites in hopes of getting out as many shots as quickly as possible, the North Shore communities were left without the inventory to keep the Salem State site going.

"As tens of thousands of our North Shore residents still seek vaccine appointments, we are all very excited to be able to offer this clinic at Salem State," Beverly Mayor Mike Cahill said. "We all hope this will help hasten the day when we can leave this pandemic behind us."

Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt was among those who expressed frustration in February when the state moved away from the local clinics — which Peabody operated for their own first responders and residents — but said in a statement he is happy the city is now part of the Salem State collaborative.

"We in Peabody are very pleased to partner with our neighboring cities and towns to provide residents with another opportunity to receive the lifesaving COVID vaccine," said Bettencourt.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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