Fenway Park Booster Shot Clinic Opening In January
BOSTON (CBS) - Back to the days of COVID-19 vaccination shots at major league sports venues. The storied Fenway Park is transitioning into a clinic again, starting in January.
"Great," said Michael Bullock, who got a booster Wednesday. "Make it more readily available. The more accessible it is, the faster we can do away with COVID."
The Boston Red Sox announced Wednesday the ballpark, which served as a mass vaccination site in February and March, will become a "high-throughput booster clinic."
"It's obviously a high density, high-population area," said Massachusetts Gov Charlie Baker. "We expect and anticipate that that will help us significantly enhance our booster capacity."
In a statement, the Red Sox said "We are…proud to be able to lend our ballpark to help with this important effort."
CIC Health, which ran the state's mass vaccine sites, reported back on March 28, when the Fenway site closed, that 56,228 people were vaccinated there. The site opened on February 1.
It comes at a time when appointments for boosters are hard to come by for some. "With all the hype, and you should get a shot, you should get a shot, well you can't get a shot," said Michael Winn from Reading, who waited weeks for an appointment. "It seems like it's a little harder to get a booster shot than it was to get the first shot."
"It did take a while to make this appointment," said Laura Mariano, who finally got one in Somerville.
Tufts Medical Center infectious disease Dr. Shira Doron says boosters are proving to be even more important now than originally thought. "With Omicron on the horizon, I feel even more strongly that boosters are the way to protect oneself."
Five million people in Massachusetts are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. About 1.6 million residents have also received a booster shot so far.
Visit Mass.Gov/CovidVaccine to schedule a vaccination or booster appointment.