BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The final stage of the state's COVID-19 vaccine rollout begins on Monday. Phase three of the rollout includes every individual in Massachusetts aged 16-plus. Governor Charlie Baker's administration estimates that 1.7 million people will be included in this last phase, so it may take a few weeks to get everyone the shot.
Tips and Tricks
Scoring a vaccine appointment has been tricky at times during the rollout and numerous free resources have popped up to help streamline the process. Preregistration is required to get vaccinated at one of the state's seven mass vaccination sites.
The state's maimmunizations.org helps residents find vaccine clinics across the state.
Pharmacies CVS and Walgreens are available for appointments outside of the preregistration system, and the appointments there tend to drop between midnight and the very early morning, around 7:00 AM. Anyone trying to book through Walgreens will need to make an account.
Several Twitter handles also broadcast the locations and links of vaccine appointments as soon as they become available. @vaccinetime, a bot designed by Ginko Bioworks, is the most popular. Another handle is @ValleyVax for people specifically in the Pioneer Valley.
A comprehensive, frequently-updated list of appointments exists at macovidvaccines.com. Other resources include groups of people that can help book a vaccine for you or a relative. "Vaccine Hunters / Angels MA," a Facebook group, had more than 15,000 members as of Sunday. A similar resource is macovidvaccinefinder.org.
So far, just over 2 million people had been fully vaccinated as of Saturday, and around 3 million had received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna two-dose regimen.
WBZ's Suzanne Sausville (@wbzSausville) reports:
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