LYNN — Lynn resident Mary Darby could barely contain her excitement as she waited to be vaccinated at the former Union Hospital site on Wednesday night.
“I’m so eager to get this vaccine,” Darby said while awaiting her first dose. “This is the first step to getting back to a normal life.”
Darby was one of more than 336 patients, ages 75 and older, of North Shore Physicians Group and North Shore Medical Center who received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine over the first two days of a new COVID-19 vaccination clinic that has opened at Mass General Brigham Healthcare Center in Lynn.
Massachusetts residents 75 and older became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on February 1, as part of the second phase of the state’s vaccination rollout plan.
While Mass General Brigham started vaccinating patients at some of its other locations this past Monday, the Lynn clinic that started operating on Wednesday marked the hospital group’s first North Shore location. North Shore Medical Center and North Shore Physicians Group are part of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system.
Approximately 168 patients began to be vaccinated in Lynn on Wednesday, a number that was matched on the second night, according to Courtney Goshey, administrative director of North Shore Physicians Group and the coordinator of the vaccination clinic. The Pfizer vaccine, like Moderna, requires two shots to reach its full efficacy.
“It went really, really well,” said Goshey. “We’re only scheduling for Mass General Brigham patients across the system. They’re offered a ticket order for the vaccination.”
Goshey said the healthcare system has tried to target senior patients who live in the hardest-hit zip codes first, in terms of areas that have been most impacted by the coronavirus. For everyone else in the 75 and older age group, the selection of who gets vaccinated first is more random, she said.
Like many other places, Goshey said the demand for the vaccine in Lynn has been more than the healthcare system can handle so far.
“Just internally, there’s probably over 150,000 patients in the system that are over 75,” she said. “We just don’t have a huge allocation right now, and hopefully that will change over time. We’re only scheduling people who receive those tickets. I think everybody, everywhere, would want to do more if they could.”
The clinic is open to patients by appointment only. Mass General Brigham plans to initially run the clinic from Tuesday to Sunday, but hopes to eventually expand to offering the vaccine in Lynn on Mondays as well. The clinic’s hours will be 5 to 9 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sundays, Goshey said.
“The staff has been working so hard to try to get this done,” said Goshey. “To be able to open it (Wednesday) night was this great opportunity. We felt like we were really part of something to begin to turn this tide. You could see the smiles behind the masks. Everyone was really excited, both patients and staff.”
One of those patients, Judith Ukleja, of Lynn, noted at her appointment this week that “this vaccine is a blessing and I hope that everyone gets it and takes advantage of the opportunity.”
“I’m so happy to be scheduled and grateful that I’m able to receive this vaccine,” added Salem resident Michael Schaefer. “I wish everyone the same good luck that I have had. And I encourage people to get the vaccine. The risk of getting COVID is far greater than anything the vaccine can cause.”
Goshey said those comments are reflective of the overall feedback staff has received from the patients who have been contacted to schedule a vaccine appointment at Mass General. She said she has not encountered much reluctance from patients in that age group, with many stating that they want to see their grandchildren again.
Demand is far outpacing what is available, Goshey said, explaining that their hope is to eventually be able to vaccinate more than 3,000 people per week at Mass General’s Lynn location.
“I myself have gotten it,” she said. “I would line up any of my family members to get it. I think this is the step for us to be able to see our friends and family again. I think if they have any hesitancy, they should contact their primary care (doctor) to talk about why they’re hesitant, to see if we can get them to the other side.”
Eligible patients are being contacted by North Shore Physicians Group, first through the Mass General Brigham Patient Gateway online system, and then via text or telephone call if they do not respond to other communication methods.
NSMC/NSPG are also working closely with the Lynn Community Health Center to support vaccination efforts at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute. More than 1,500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered to Lynn and Nahant residents at the Lynn Tech clinic this week, which is run by the city of Lynn and town of Nahant.
