'We're Ready To Go': Towns Eager To Help Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines
HANOVER (CBS) – Towns that came up with their own vaccine distribution plans are being forced to wait.
Communities like Yarmouth and Hanover wanted to set up large vaccination clinics but the state is still telling them to only expect 100 doses a week. Some of those deliveries have been canceled.
If the state's vaccine rollout has seemed a bit "bumpy", many town officials in Eastern Mass. say they're ready, and able to help.
"We're just waiting for the vaccine, we're ready to go," said Hanover Fire Chief Jeff Blanchard. "We're prepared to deliver as many as 500 vaccinations a day."
Hanover already has a COVID testing site set up, and they say they can easily pivot to giving inoculations. "Our local health department developed an emergency dispensing site," says Chief Blanchard.
On the Cape, the state has established several regional vaccination sites. Yarmouth Health Agent Bruce Murphy said if they enlisted the help of local towns, it may go smoother. "I think we could supplement the larger, regional clinics at least on the Cape," said Murphy.
In Easton, town officials started by first vaccinating first responders then moving to those residents 75 years old and up. It went so smoothly, they're ready to ramp it up, if only they had the supply.
"So every Tuesday and Thursday we hope to be running clinics as long as the vaccine continues," said Easton Fire Chief Kevin Partridge.
And that may well be the biggest hurdle, supply from the federal government.