'Residents Are Really Anxious': Revere Mayor Worries About Vaccine Rollout For Residents 75 And Older
REVERE (CBS) - In Revere, people were busy getting the last of their health care providers vaccinated on Thursday. And in a matter of days, the focus will become the city's almost 9,000 seniors.
"Residents are really anxious. They're feeling fearful of not being able to get an appointment. They're frightened," said Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo.
Revere City Hall has become a whirlwind to activity. They're getting volunteers and setting up phone banks to help seniors get vaccinated. And they'll soon have several clinics up and running. The big question is supply.
"It's all about supply. What we do know if we can get over 400 doses of the vaccine probably a week. We expect that to ramp up," said Mayor Arrigo.
At Salem State University today, five North Shore towns have joined up to create a vaccination site, where 1,100 first responders have already had their first shots.
While towns and cities are ramping up their efforts, the common theme is concern about supplies.
"So we're at the end of Phase 1. We're doing the final priority groups today. We'll be doing approximately 200 doses and next week we'll be looking to schedule a clinic to do our beginning of Phase 2," Salem Health Agent Dave Greenbaum. "I think the infrastructure is really good. I think as long as we can anticipate getting additional vaccines, we'll be in good shape."
The vaccine supplies are in the hands of the federal government. But the Biden administration is planning to ramp it up in a couple of weeks.
