LYNN — Vaccines began to be distributed to teachers at the Lynn Tech Field House, the city’s vaccination site, on Thursday.
The Lynn Community Health Center, which runs the site in partnership with the city, administered the vaccinations.
Marita Gove, a nurse practitioner at LCHC, said she thinks it’s great that teachers are now eligible for the vaccine. COVID-19 cases have been decreasing locally and statewide, and the eligibility for educators comes as schools begin planning for a return to in-person learning.
“It’s really exciting,” Gove said. “Obviously, it’s going along the same timeline of a lot more pressure to reopen schools, and I think that is really reassuring to a lot of teachers and staff going in the building knowing that they can at least start the vaccination process.”
Gov. Charlie Baker announced last week that teachers, school staff and early childhood educators would become eligible to sign up for the vaccine on Thursday.
The announcement was made a day after President Joe Biden said that he’s using “the full authority of the federal government,” directing states to prioritize educators for the coronavirus vaccine and aim for teachers and school staff to have at least one dose of the vaccine by the end of March.
Educators will now be able to sign up for a vaccine at CVS pharmacies and vaccination sites across the Commonwealth, including the site at Lynn Tech. Baker cautioned people to be patient, as the shortage of vaccines across the country continues.
“If we are patient, everyone who wants [a vaccine] will eventually get one,” he said.
The Lynn Tech vaccination site has been able to slightly increase the number of patients who are receiving the vaccine per hour, according to Gove. But with the nationwide shortage, LCHC is still not receiving its requested amount of doses.
For example, the health center ordered more than 7,500 doses for this week but only received 5,570, according to Kimberly Eng, LCHC chief operating officer.
“There’s still a vaccine shortage. Basically the state is really struggling to even fulfill second doses at this point,” Eng said. “We are doing our best to get the doses, but it’s a real struggle.”
She said they are expecting the shortage to last through the end of March. LCHC received two supplies of vaccines for this week. The state gave the health center the Pfizer vaccine for the first doses and a federal supply provided them Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
LCHC usually distributes Moderna but Eng said they will take what they can get.
Appointments for teachers opened Thursday night and Eng said they were fully booked within 30 minutes. Appointments are released in coordination with the city after 5 p.m., giving teachers the opportunity to sign up after their work day. Eng said LCHC aims to open up appointments as soon as they know they are going to get a supply.
“It’s really sporadic,” Eng said regarding the timeline of adding new appointments. “The way that our shipments get confirmed, our state gets confirmed at a different time than our federal supply, so it’s very sporadic throughout the week.”
LCHC updated attestation forms in preparation for educators arriving at the clinic on Thursday, but Gove said that the site had seen a steady flow of educators and people falling under other eligibility phases throughout the day.
LCHC plans to vaccinate about 1,000 patients a day when the shortage ends. Eng said that they increased to vaccinating about 110 patients an hour on Thursday.
With the recent rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Eng said she was worried people would be hesitant to receive that particular dose because it is new and there is less educational material on it.
“It’s actually been a really good reception,” she said. “We’ve administered that this week.”
Gove said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be helpful in their outreach efforts, given that it is a single dose and would be easier for patients at a pop-up site or in shelters.
LCHC plans to open more vaccines based on its confirmed shipment, which it is usually informed of on Fridays.
