GILLETTE STADIUM TO BE STATE'S FIRST MASS VACCINATION SITE
FOXBORO REPORTER
Gillette Stadium will be the first mass COVID-19 vaccination site in the state, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday.
The first doses will begin Thursday for staff administering vaccinations to first responders before the facility opens up to first responders on Monday, Baker said at a press conference.
Initially, 300 vaccines will be administered a day before ramping up to about 5,000 and possibly more, according to the governor.
Vaccinating first responders not only protects them, their families and the people they deal with daily but “will ensure that they can do their jobs and continue to keep our communities safe,” Baker said.
Gillette Stadium is the first sports and entertainment venue in the northeast to open for mass vaccinations and is the third NFL stadium in the country to do so.
Baker thanked the Kraft family for agreeing to allow the stadium to be used as the “first mass vaccination site right out of the gate.”
“This is a huge step forward in our fight, and we are progressing through our vaccine plan as we had hoped we would,” Baker said. “In fact, we’ll be ready to move on to the next phase of our distribution plan in the coming days, which is our congregate care community.”
Eventually, the doses of the vaccine will be expanded at Gillette to others, Baker said.
CIC Health, a Cambridge-based company, will operate the site with Brigham & Women’s Hospital as the medical director and Fallon Ambulance supporting the clinical staff.
The opening of this site marks the onset of an extensive campaign to streamline and expedite vaccinations in Massachusetts.
“We are excited to apply the lessons learned in testing to the vaccine rollout process,” said Tim Rowe, founder and CEO of CIC Health. “Testing and vaccination go hand-in-hand in the battle to minimize virus spread. Together, they provide us solid footing on the road to recovery.”
Using the stadium as a mass vaccination site makes sense, according to Jim Nolan, chief operating officer at the stadium.
“Gillette Stadium is accustomed to accommodating large audiences and we are honored to provide a safe location to expedite the vaccination of first responders, and to soon expand to residents throughout the Commonwealth.”
Eligible vaccine recipients can schedule appointments at cic-health.com/vaccines beginning Thursday.