Six of the mass vaccination sites in Massachusetts will begin offering shots on a walk-up basis next Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday — including the one in Springfield at Eastfield Mall.
Speaking from a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Encore Boston Harbor casino, Baker said the addition of walk-up slots at the Hynes Convention Center and Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, the DoubleTree Hotel in Danvers, the former Circuit City in Dartmouth, and malls in Natick and Springfield will make it easier for Massachusetts residents to access vaccines.
"This could be a great new chapter to the program overall," Baker said. "And paired with the targeted community-based effort that we're pursuing like this one here at Encore, we should be able to reach many more of our residents and build on the national-leading success we've had in distributing vaccines so far, which will help us further reopen our economy, protect our communities, and fundamentally provide a safe solution to so many people here in Massachusetts so that we can get back to normal."
The Encore vaccine site is part of a regional collaborative of nine communities north of Boston partnering with Cambridge Health Alliance and Tufts University.
Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said Cambridge Health Alliance "has never wasted one dose," calling that "pretty amazing."
Cambridge Health Alliance CEO Dr. Assaad Sayah said the collaborative is also in the process of launching a mobile vaccination program, and encouraged everyone to get the shot.
"That's the only way we can get past and beyond this," he said.
