BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — On Monday morning, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced that the state will close four mass vaccination sites this summer.
Baker said the decision was made by the state to shift its focus to smaller clinics, in an effort to reach its goal of herd immunity in June.
The mass vaccination sites at the Hynes Convention Center, Doubletree Hotel in Danvers, the Natick Mall and Gillete Stadium will close by the end of June.
Baker said the state is on track to reach its goal and will administer around 250,000 second doses in May and another 180,000 first doses in the next seven days across all those sites.
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"But as we continue to disperse vaccines more widely across communities, we plan to gradually close four of the seven mass vaccination sites ," said Baker.
He added the state expects to reach 4.1 million fully vaccinated resident by early June, which would lead to herd immunity.
The CDC defines herd immunity as the point at which "a sufficient proportion of a population is immune to an infectious disease (through vaccination and/or prior illness) to make its spread from person to person unlikely.”
There are currently more than 900 sites where Massachusetts resident can schedule a vaccine appointment.
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