(Malhotra/Getty Images)
By Curtis Brodner
(FOXBOROUGH, Mass.) Massachusetts is opening the state’s first coronavirus mass vaccination site at Gillette Stadium on Thursday, reported the Boston Herald.
The stadium for the New England Patriots will start administering 300 vaccines a day and quickly ramp up to 5,000 per day or more, announced Gov. Charlie Baker at a press conference on Tuesday.
“This is a huge step forward in our fight and we are progressing through our vaccine plan as we hoped we would,” said Baker.
Massachusetts is currently undergoing the most severe COVID-19 outbreak yet. The state had 5,487 new cases on Jan. 12, a 52% increase over the course of the last 14 days, according to data from The New York Times.
Baker hopes the new mass vaccination site will help expand a slow start to the state’s vaccination rollout. Massachusetts has only administered 209,722 of the 470,100 doses since vaccination started on Dec. 15., according to Baker.
People who are eligible during phase one of Massachusetts’ vaccination plan, including health care workers, first responders and group living assistants, can sign up for vaccination at the Massachusetts state website.
CIC health will operate the site with assistance from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Fallon Ambulance Service.
The staff running the site will be the first to receive vaccines there. First responders will start appointments on Monday.
The Gillette site is the first of three mass vaccination sites planned by the state. Baker says they’re waiting to open the others until they have enough doses to fully utilize a large-scale vaccination apparatus.