MIDDLEBOROUGH – Fire Chief Lance Benjamino and Town Manager Robert Nunes are pleased to announce that the Middleborough Fire Department has been selected to be a regional vaccination site for first responders.
“We are extremely pleased to be one of the locations chosen across the state to distribute COVID-19 vaccinations to our local first responders,” Town Manager Nunes said. “We look forward to the drastic improvement the vaccinations will have on ensuring the safety of our community.”
On Friday and Saturday, Jan. 15 and 16 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the regional vaccination site for first responders will be held at Parish Hall, 53 Oak St., Middleborough. School nurses in the Middleborough Public Schools will also be able to receive vaccinations at these times.
The vaccination effort will serve first responders from Middleborough and Lakeville, as well as the surrounding area.
“The Middleborough Fire Department is honored to host a vaccination site for the men and women who serve our community and the surrounding communities,” Chief Benjamino said. “This opportunity will allow us to continue to protect and serve those in our community while adding an extra layer of protection for the department’s firefighters, EMTs and paramedics.”
Middleborough’s Health Department is one of approximately 115 locations statewide approved to distribute vaccinations as part of phase one of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination distribution plan. Vaccines are not expected to be available to the general public until April, at the earliest.
The Town of Middleborough also wishes to share the following information about the state’s distribution plan for the vaccine over the coming months:
- Phase one of the state’s vaccination distribution plan began in December 2020 and is estimated to continue into February. Phase one vaccinations are being provided to those in the following groups, in order of priority:
- Clinical and non-clinical health care workers giving direct and COVID-19 facing care.
- Long-term care facilities, rest homes, assisted living facilities.
- First responders including police, fire and emergency medical services. This includes interfacility transport workers, MedFlight staff, college and university campus police, and 911 dispatch employees.
- Congregate care settings, including corrections and shelters.
- Home-based health care workers.
- Health care workers providing non-COVID-19 facing care. This does not include those who do not come in contact with patients, however. For more information on the types of healthcare workers included in phase one, click here.
- Phase two of the state’s vaccination distribution plan is anticipated to begin in February and continue into March. Phase two vaccinations will be provided to those in the following groups, in order of priority:
- Individuals with two or more co-morbid conditions, who are at a high risk for COVID-19 complications. To review conditions that may put an individual at an increased risk for COVID-19 complications, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website here.
- Professionals in the fields of early education, K-12, transit, grocery, utility, food and agriculture, sanitation, public works and public health.
- Adults age 65-years-old and older.
- Individuals with one co-morbid condition.
- Phase three of the state’s vaccination distribution plan is anticipated to begin in April. At this time the vaccine will become available to the general public.
- When phase three begins, public vaccine clinics will be listed on the CDC’s interactive website here. People will also be able to contact their primary care providers, local pharmacies and/or local health departments at this time.
For more information about the state of Massachusetts’ timeline for vaccine distribution, click here. For more information about COVID-19 vaccines in general, visit the CDC’s website here and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health website here.
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