Published September 3, 2021
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The town is desperately working to obtain doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for residents even though the supply is limited, Fire Chief/Emergency Management Director Glenn Davis said during a virtual press conference on Jan. 28.
While the Emergency Management Team remains focused on getting vaccine doses for residents, the number of COVID-19 cases in Lynnfield has decreased over the last several weeks. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health designated Lynnfield as a “yellow” community for the first time since November last week. According to Davis, there are currently 78 active cases of the novel coronavirus in town as of Monday, Feb. 1. There have been 918 total cases since the start of the pandemic and 813 people have recovered from the virus. There are currently nine members of the school community who have tested positive for COVID-19. Twenty-seven residents have tragically lost their lives to the virus.
“The number of cases is down considerably over what we saw during the holidays when we had some very large increases,” said Davis. “We are seeing some good trends. People seem to be following the state’s guidelines with mask wearing, social distancing and handwashing.”
Davis recalled that local first responders received their first injection of the Moderna vaccine last month. First responders were included in Phase 1 of the state’s vaccination distribution plan.
“We were able to vaccinate all emergency first responders in the town of Lynnfield,” said Davis. “That includes all fire personnel, all police personnel, dispatchers and school nurses. We received 70 plus doses and everyone got their first dose. We are now waiting to get our second dose.”
Town Administrator Rob Dolan noted that municipalities are waiting to receive additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the state and federal government. He said Phase 2 of the state’s vaccination program started on Monday, where residents age 75 and older are eligible to get vaccinated. He said a number of residents have called local officials inquiring when will the town have access to vaccine doses.
“The availability of vaccines is a massive crisis,” said Dolan. “We are simply not getting the vaccines that we need. We are not even getting 10 percent of what we need.”
Dolan said the state has grouped municipalities into different regions as part of its vaccine distribution plan. He said the town is included in Region 3B, which also includes Andover, Lawrence, Methuen, North Andover, North Reading, Reading and Wilmington.
“The state is taking a regionalized approach for the delivery of services,” said Dolan. “There will be clinics in Lynnfield. By working in a region, the state is trying to create a system in which people from Reading can come to Lynnfield and people from Lynnfield can go to North Reading. We can do joint services or we can simply do individual Lynnfield clinics with a smaller amount of doses. But the capping of vaccines is making that very difficult.”
Davis agreed.
“We have many plans built and we are ready to distribute the vaccine,” said Davis. “Depending on how many doses we get, we can do a mass distribution site at the high school for all populations. What is more likely is we will do smaller, targeted clinics when we get smaller doses. The talk is under 100 doses per week will be given to the local Board of Health. That is a very small clinic to set up if we get 100 doses. But the target right now is our seniors who are 75 and above.”
Davis said the Emergency Management Team has discussed ways to get seniors vaccinated with the Senior Center, Greater Lynn Senior Services and with representatives from the town’s elderly housing developments.
“The Council on Aging is helping us coordinate how to get seniors the best access to these vaccines,” said Davis.
Dolan also noted CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens will be given doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. He also said there will be large-scale vaccination sites set up at Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium.
In addition to the state’s sports arenas, Davis said there are several area locations where seniors can get vaccinated. In order to register for the Doubletree Hotel in Danvers, people should visit https://bit.ly/3qUmTFP.
“The Doubletree Hotel is being stood up by the state as one of their mass distribution sites for the vaccine for the North Shore area,” said Davis.
Seniors can also sign up to receive a vaccine injection from Walgreens’ Saugus and Danvers locations. The Walgreens in Saugus is located at 166 Walnut St. and the Danvers pharmacy is at 107 High St. Residents should visit https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19 in order to register to get vaccinated. Seniors can also register to get vaccinated at the Stop and Shop in Woburn by visiting https://sit.stopandshop.com/pages/ss-pharmacy.
Dolan urged seniors “not to wait for the town to have clinics.”
“Be a self-advocate,” said Dolan. “Make calls and utilize all of the choices that are available because if we are only given 100 doses a week at best because that is where the state and federal government are at, it is going to take us weeks if not months to service Phase 2.”
Davis echoed Dolan’s sentiment.
“We are going to stand up a clinic in town as soon as we have the vaccine in hand, but don’t wait for us,” said Davis. “If you can get vaccinated elsewhere, please do so.”
Dolan said local officials will be informing residents when the town receives vaccine doses. He said the Emergency Management Team has ordered large refrigerators in order to store the vaccine.
“We have a plan in place and we are ready to go,” said Dolan. “We have nurses and volunteers, but we just need doses to get delivered. We know there is frustration out there because everyone wants to be vaccinated, and we share that frustration. We are desperately waiting for our state and federal partners to get us the vaccines that we need.”
While Davis noted that seniors are eligible to get vaccinated, he said, “Some of these appointment slots are still being taken by those who were in Phase 1.”
“That includes first responders and health care workers,” said Davis. “There are still nurses trying to get their first dose. Monday didn’t just open for those who are 75 and above. It’s all of the Phase 1 people as well as those who are 75 and older. That is a lot of people trying to get vaccinated in a short amount of time.”