Swansea Town Administrator Mallory Aronstein, Somerset Town Administrator Richard Brown and Public Health Nurse for the Towns of Swansea and Somerset Emily Lachance are pleased to announce that the Towns of Swansea and Somerset have been successfully co-hosting COVID-19 vaccination clinics for those eligible to receive the vaccine in Phase 1 of the state’s distribution plan.
As part of Phase 1, the Towns of Swansea and Somerset began vaccinating police, fire and emergency medical services personnel on Jan. 12.
First responders received their vaccinations at a drive-through clinic at the Somerset Fire Department. The clinics, which can accommodate 300-500 patients at a time based on supply numbers, ran for three days per week from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. over the past two weeks.
At the clinics, first responders received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. They will receive the second dose within the next 28 days.
To date, 670 patients have been inoculated with the first dose of the Moderna vaccine in the Towns of Swansea and Somerset.
“We are extremely pleased to see how efficient our vaccination efforts have been so far in the Towns of Swansea and Somerset,” Public Health Nurse Lachance said. “Now that our first responders have been inoculated, we will be administering the COVID-19 vaccine to the rest of the individuals in Phase 1 of the distribution plan. We encourage anyone eligible to receive the vaccine to do so, as this will help us further battle COVID-19.”
With first responders inoculated with the first dose, the Towns of Swansea and Somerset have begun vaccinating the remaining individuals eligible to receive the vaccine in Phase 1.
The remaining phase one categories include home-based health care workers and health care workers providing non-COVID-19 facing care. This does not include those who do not come in contact with patients, however. For more information on the types of health care workers included in phase one, click here.
Residents can register for an appointment on the state’s website, but should note there is a possibility they may be turned away on the day of their appointment if they don’t meet current eligibility requirements.
Clinics’ capacities are based on the supplies provided by the state, and as such clinics will accommodate patients for the specific amount of doses provided to the Towns of Swansea and Somerset each week.
Town officials will continue to monitor the situation and share updates, such as specific dates of when the vaccine may become available to more people, as that information becomes available.
The vaccine is expected to be available to the general public in April. To view the state’s distribution timeline, please click here.
Residents can receive periodical updates to which phases the Towns of Swansea and Somerset are in and who they are currently vaccinating by visiting here. For those with additional questions, please contact Public Health Nurse Lachance at elachance@town.swansea.ma.us.
Stay Informed about the Status of COVID-19 in Towns of Swansea and Somerset
According to public health data released on Thursday, Jan. 21, the Town of Swansea’s designation remains at “Red,” indicating a “high risk” of spread in the community. The average daily incidence rate for the Town of Swansea is 104.3 per 100,000 residents, down from 109.3 the previous week.
Swansea officials report that there are currently 233 active cases of COVID-19 in the community. There have been a total of 1258 cases in Swansea since the start of the pandemic.
Additional information regarding the Town of Swansea’s response to COVID-19 can be found on the Town’s website, www.town.swansea.ma.us and on the Town’s official COVID-19 blog, swanseacovid19.com. Residents are also encouraged to follow the Town of Swansea’s Facebook page for the latest town updates.
Additionally, according to public health data released on Thursday, Jan. 21, the Town of Somerset’s designation remains at “Red,” indicating a “high risk” of spread in the community. The average daily incidence rate for the Town of Somerset is 93.7 per 100,000 residents, down from 104.9 the previous week.
Somerset officials report that there are currently 243 active cases of COVID-19 in the community. There have been a total of 1491 cases in Somerset since the start of the pandemic.
As always, Somerset residents can learn the latest about the COVID-19 situation in Somerset by visiting the town’s COVID-19 portal: https://somersetcovid19.com/
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