Storm Forces Schedule Changes At Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium COVID Vaccine Sites
BOSTON (CBS) – A mass vaccination site is set to open at Fenway Park on Monday, starting with Massachusetts residents 75 and older. But with a nor'easter set to dump a foot or more of snow on much of New England, contingency plans are being put in place.
CIC Health runs the Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park mass vaccination sites. On Sunday night, schedule changes at both locations were announced in anticipation for the snow:
- Fenway Park
- Opening 1 hour early at 8 a.m.
- If you have an appointment between 9 a.m. -1 p.m., please try to arrive one hour early
- If you have an appointment between 1-5 p.m., please try to arrive between 9 a.m. -1 p.m. instead
- Please be patient upon arrival as we are doing our best to accommodate everyone.
- If you cannot arrive early or would like to reschedule, you will be invited to do so via email.
- Gillette Stadium
- Opening at 8 a.m.
- If you have an appointment scheduled after 3 p.m., you will receive an email to reschedule for a new appointment on Wednesday 2/3-Sunday 2/7
- Please be patient upon arrival as we are doing our best to accommodate everyone.
Related: Boston Marathon Director Helping Coordinate Mass COVID Vaccination Sites
Rodrigo Martinez is the chief marketing and experience officer for CIC Health.
"We are in New England. We knew that sooner or later we will have one or several nor'easters, and we're preparing the best that we can," said Martinez.
Martinez said additional staff is being added to help elderly people who are going to the sites for appointments. There will be additional wheelchairs available at Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium, and it is planned so no lines flow outside.
"We do understand that maybe the weather gets so bad that we have to either cancel some appointments, reschedule appointments, or maybe someone can't make it to the site safely and we will be able to support them," said Martinez.
If that is the case, Martinez said CIC Health's outreach team will reschedule appointments for the following week. Anyone whose vaccination appointment is impacted will be contacted if anything changes.
Contingency plans are also in place to make sure that no vaccine is wasted in the event either facility is forced to shut down.
Once a vial is punctured, it has to be used within a certain number of hours. Martinez said in cases where a vaccine needs to be used and something like a canceled appointment comes up, there are people either eligible in Phase 1, or who are 75 years old who will be given a shot.
As an example, Martinez said if vial is punctured and appointments are canceled, there are employees working the site who would be eligible to receive it and have not yet been vaccinated.
"No vaccine is going to waste I'll tell you that," Martinez said. "We won't waste any vaccine."
The COVID-19 vaccine clinic scheduled for Monday at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College will be automatically rescheduled for February 8.
Visit Mass.Gov/CovidVaccine to find out when you're eligible and to book an appointment.