LYNN — The City of Lynn Department of Public Health, Lynn Community Health Center (LHCH) and Mass General Brigham (MGB) will host a joint, mobile COVID-19 vaccination operation, the city announced Friday.
Lynn Public Health Director Michele Desmarais said the program’s goal is to meet people where they are in order to reduce barriers to vaccination in hard-to-reach communities.
“I am very proud of the incredible work done by our Department of Public Health staff to vaccinate so many members of our community to date,” Desmarais said. “Offering mobile vaccine clinics creates a more comfortable and accessible environment for people to get vaccinated.”
The operation has been piloted over the last two weeks with clinics at a handful of businesses and places of worship for eligible populations based on the state’s guidelines, a press release from City Hall said.
These efforts will launch officially on Monday as Massachusetts vaccine eligibility expands to all people ages 16 and up.
“Our goal has always been to make vaccines as accessible as possible with a multi-pronged team approach by opening up the Lynn Tech vaccination site, which is up to 6,000 vaccinations a week, and conducting designated vaccine clinics at our senior and affordable housing buildings and for our first responders, educators, and essential workers,” said Mayor Thomas M. McGee. “We also vaccinated a number of our homebound residents before the state launched their homebound program.”
State data shows that as of April 13, 24,618 Lynn residents are fully vaccinated and 13,349 are partially vaccinated. Overall, 38 percent of Lynn’s population has received their first dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“We are proud to work with the Health Center and the City of Lynn on a comprehensive mobile vaccination strategy and have deployed a robust team of employees to help assist with community vaccination efforts,”said Christine Valdes, M.D., a family medicine physician at North Shore Physicians Group and Medical Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Salem Hospital, a member of Mass General Brigham. “Our community Care Team includes staff from across our system with a range of skill sets and language capabilities who are dedicated to vaccinating the most vulnerable residents of Lynn.”
Eligible community partners for mobile vaccination clinics include Lynn businesses, community organizations, or places of worship.
Registration for a mobile clinic is available here. Once submitted, staff from the Lynn Community Health Center or the Lynn Department of Public Health will contact applicants as soon as possible to schedule an appointment based on staff and vaccine supply and availability.
The city is asking residents seeking individual appointments to visit https://www.lchcnet.org/covid-19-vaccine-scheduling. Those seeking appointments for someone homebound should visit http://www.lynnma.gov/covid19/vaccine.shtml#gpm1_4.
“This vaccination operation is building upon those tremendous efforts,” McGee said. “I encourage everyone to get vaccinated through one of these opportunities, so we can finally get past this pand
