(Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for National Clean Energy Summit)
By Hanna Park
(BOSTON) Over 250 community activists and medical professionals urged Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to give the state’s Black and immigrant communities priority access to COVID-19 vaccines.
“Our Black and Latino neighbors have been the hardest hit by the pandemic, and we have failed to implement sufficient measures to protect them,” said a coalition in a letter delivered to Baker on Monday, according to The Boston Globe. “We cannot afford to neglect our hotspot communities during the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.”
The Republican governor has acknowledged the virus’ impact on minority groups and pledged to reserve 20% of the state’s vaccine supply for cities and towns with high infection rates.
“Black and brown communities have borne the brunt of this virus,” Baker said Monday. “Our administration’s response to the pandemic has been constantly mindful of this reality.”
Health care workers, nursing home residents and staff are among those who are currently eligible to be inoculated under the state’s Phase 1 vaccine distribution plan. The general public is not expected to have vaccine access until April, The Associated Press reported.
But the 250 individuals who signed the letter said the state has not yet determined a program to administer vaccines to these hotspots.
The letter was provided by the Chelsea Collaborative, or La Colaborativa, a nonprofit that has led the humanitarian response to the pandemic in the hard-hit city. Doctors from Mass General Brigham hospitals also signed the letter.