A day before Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is set to testify before lawmakers on the state's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, he announced 11 regional vaccination sites in the state, including locations in Berkshire, Franklin and Hampshire counties.
Starting March 1, Baker said the sites will be able to vaccinate at least 750 people a day, five days a week — subject to vaccine supply.
The state said the locations will be open to all Massachusetts residents, but may choose to focus outreach efforts locally. Information about booking appointments at the regional sites is forthcoming, the state said.
Baker also said 50,000 new appointments will become available in the state Thursday at mass vaccination sites, including the site at Springfield's Eastfield Mall. Retail pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens will also administer over 20,000 doses next week, according to the state.
Baker said he expects the appointments on the website to be booked up quickly, and said changes are being made to prepare the state's website for an anticipated surge in traffic like the one that led to a crash last week as about a million people became newly eligible for vaccines.
Baker said the website "will have bolstered server capacity" and a new "digital waiting room" that will place some users in a queue to wait their turn in high-traffic periods. He said he expects "the site's performance tomorrow to be significantly better," and that the waiting room will "be a very important part of making sure that people have access to and the ability to determine if they can make an appointment."
Baker spoke from a recently-opened mass vaccination site at a former Sears store in the Natick Mall, which officials said is currently delivering about 100 doses a day and has a goal of administering up to 5,000 per day in April.
Without an increase in vaccine supply from the federal government, Baker said, it will probably take about a month to move through the current eligibility groups and onto the next groups of people in the phased distribution plan.
"If we see an increase, obviously, in weekly first dose vaccines, that process might go a little quicker," he said.
Baker said he was encouraged by news about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine candidate, as well as claims by Moderna and Pfizer officials that they plan to substantially boost vaccine supplies.
The bulk of this report comes is by Katie Lannan of the State House News Service.
