New state guidelines on COVID-19 vaccine distributions could mean that Western Massachusetts residents who intended to be vaccinated at local hospitals may have to look elsewhere for their dose.
On Thursday night, the Boston Globe reported that Massachusetts officials would be “severely limiting the number of coronavirus vaccine doses sent to hospitals across the state” due to vaccines sitting unused for too long at these facilities. Western Massachusetts legislators, including state Reps. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, and Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, also said they spoke with executives from Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Baystate Health, Holyoke Medical Center and Mercy Medical Center who anticipated a pause in their vaccine supply from the state.
Since then, the state appears to have adjusted its guidelines for at least one Western Massachusetts hospital. Baystate Health spokesperson Keith O’Connor said Friday that the hospital system, which includes Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, “has not received official notification from the state of any changes to vaccine distribution.”
In a statement, Baystate Health President and CEO Mark Keroack said the hospital is “hopeful that Mass. Department of Public Health will provide sufficient vaccine allocations to enable us to honor the appointments for community members that have been scheduled for the next two weeks.”
In a daily COVID-19 update sent out on Friday, O’Connor said the hospital system has so far administered 9,162 first doses and 8,588 second doses. Another 1,747 first dose appointments have been scheduled in the next 20 days, and 10,621 second dose appointments in the next 32 days.
But others, such as Cooley Dickinson Health Care, will not be scheduling any additional first dose appointments due to supply constraints from the state.
Cooley Dickinson spokesperson Christina Trinchero said the Mass General Brigham system, which includes Cooley Dickinson, “is no longer able to schedule first dose vaccine appointments for patients or employees,” though Cooley Dickinson was able to vaccinate everyone who had already scheduled an appointment and will continue to vaccinate those who have a second dose scheduled.
In a statement, Mass General Brigham encouraged those who are eligible for the vaccine to seek out an appointment at a state vaccination site, local clinic or pharmacy.
“Moving forward, we will continue to work closely with state officials to address this situation,” the statement reads. “And of the highest importance, we will continue to advocate for vaccine distribution to patients living in the communities hardest hit by the pandemic.”
Robert Roose, chief medical officer for Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, said in a statement that the hospital “will continue to provide the COVID-19 vaccine in accordance with DPH guidelines and as our allocation allows.”
Information on Holyoke Medical Center was not immediately available Friday.
In an email obtained by the Daily Hampshire Gazette, state Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said Friday that “hospitals should pause on scheduling any new first dose appointments until further notice and not cancel any currently scheduled appointments.”
Sudders also stated, “While demand outstrips supply, we have no choice but to allocate doses based on certain criteria: which sites and providers can vaccinate people most quickly, which sites can best serve communities of color hardest hit by COVID, and which sites can best use the doses to preserve life and our healthcare system.”
The state’s reallocation of vaccines drew criticism from Sabadosa and Domb.
“I hope it’s not a secret to anyone that I really believe that our local boards of health are leading the way when it comes to vaccinations,” Sabadosa said, “but I think our hospitals are a close second.
“People have relationships with their hospitals, they have relationships with their physicians, and it’s really important for them to be able to pick up the phone and call someone they know to make that appointment,” she continued.
Sabadosa said legislators were told Thursday that the state would enact a “complete pause” on vaccines sent to hospitals, but “enormous outcry” seems to have prompted the state to continue sending vaccines, though fewer of them.
“It’s been constantly evolving,” Sabadosa said. “I went from being very, very angry and scared for my constituents … to thinking that maybe things aren’t quite as bad as they seem, but still being very concerned.”
Sabadosa and Domb both expressed concerns that reallocating vaccines to mass vaccination sites could have a particularly negative effect on Western Massachusetts residents, as neither Hampshire nor Franklin counties have a mass vaccination site.
“I understand there’s a limited supply, and we have to go about distributing it in a fair and medically sound way,” Domb said. “But I also believe that when it comes to vaccine distribution, we should be using as many sites as we possibly can, because they all meet different needs.”
Domb and Sabadosa were also concerned about long lines that have formed at mass vaccination sites.
While some may look to “a cookie-cutter approach” for vaccine rollout, “it’s really important that we’re trying to use an approach that meets people where they’re at,” Domb said, with a focus on those who have been particularly hard hit by COVID-19, such as people of color.
The legislators also said all hospitals should not be penalized for rollout issues that may not be present everywhere. Overall, Sabadosa feels the state “took an eastern Mass. problem and tried to apply a solution that has negative implications in Western Mass.”
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.