Published in the February 9, 2021
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The next COVID-19 clinic for Wakefield residents will be on Friday, Feb. 26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 200 Quannapowitt Parkway (the former American Mutual/Comverse building).
The clinic will be limited to Wakefield residents 75 years old and older in accordance with the state’s vaccine distribution timeline, Health Director Ruth Clay announced at last night’s the Town Council meeting.
There will be 700 doses available and signup is now available on the town’s web site, wakefield.ma.us/covid.
Clay stressed the fact that the Feb. 26 clinic is for Wakefield residents only, so reservations cannot be made on the state web site. Residents who are not able to sign up on the town’s web site may call the Senior Center at 781-245-3312, where help will be available to register residents over the phone.
Whether eligible residents sign up online or via phone for the clinic, they will need to provide their health insurance information. Clay also noted that Mystic Valley Elder Services is making round-trip taxi vouchers available to seniors who need transportation to and from the Feb. 26 clinic.
The first local COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Feb. 1 by all accounts went like clockwork. It was also held at the 200 Quannapowitt Parkway site. It was a regional clinic where approximately 1,500 eligible people got their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Those individuals are scheduled to get their second dose on Feb 22.
Clay said that more than 100 people worked the Feb. 1 clinic, including nurses, EMTs, police and lay people. Since it was a regional clinic, other area Health Departments also helped out. A similar team will be in place to work at the Wakefield-only clinic on Feb. 26, Clay said.
Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio also had high praise for the team that made the Feb. 1 clinic a success.
“Our first clinic was an amazing success with almost 1,500 patients vaccinated,” Maio noted. “We accommodated appointment shifts so our seniors could avoid the storm, and were fully operational until our posted closing time despite the snow. I couldn’t be prouder of our team. Because we want to focus on our Wakefield seniors specifically, this upcoming clinic will just be for our eligible senior population; those 75 and over. We’ll be implementing some changes to improve flow, we’re adding more volunteers to assist those with mobility challenges and have added more technical support available to assist those without computer access.”
Maio said that future clinics at the same site will be announced, pending the availability of more vaccine.
Clay stressed that the 200 Quannapowitt Parkway site is huge, with more than adequate space to accommodate large numbers of people while social distancing.
Real estate firms Waterstone Properties and Cabot Cabot & Forbes have teamed up with the town and the Mystic Valley Public Health Coalition to allow thousands of residents to receive free COVID-19 vaccines at the 200 Quannapowitt Parkway site.
Waterstone Properties has provided the site free of charge to the Town of Wakefield. The former American Mutual/Converse site that was purchased by Waterstone Properties in 2018.
“This is a historic time that calls for all public and private entities to think outside of the box and work together to help each other out,” said Michael Sewall, Managing Director of Waterstone Properties. “It’s in Waterstone’s corporate DNA to play an active role in the communities that we are a part of. Along with Cabot Cabot & Forbes, we are happy to support our neighbors in Wakefield, Melrose, Malden, Stoneham, and Winchester in this unprecedented vaccination outreach. We will get through this pandemic together.”
Town Administrator Maio has expressed the town’s gratitude to Waterstone and Cabot Cabot & Forbes for being “good corporate citizens” in offering the use of their property as a vaccination site.
