More professions allowed to give out shots
Podiatrists, medical assistants, military can help
Podiatrists, phlebotomists, medical assistants and some military personnel are now authorized to administer coronavirus shots as Gov. Charlie Baker continues to cut red tape in the “race against time” to vaccinate Massachusetts as cases are once again on the rise.
The Friday order from state Department of Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel was intended “to increase vaccine accessibility across a wide range of providers,” according to a statement.
The news comes as the state prepares to ramp up vaccination efforts and as the feds promise to bring more life-saving doses into Massachusetts.
“We have enough capacity in Massachusetts to do two (times) or three (times) the number of vaccines we’re doing on a weekly basis right now,” Baker said during a Friday appearance at the State House.
Massachusetts this week will receive 330,000 doses of vaccine from the federal government, including 40,800 of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which the governor has said is key to boosting the state’s vaccination rate.
There currently are more than 170 sites across Massachusetts providing vaccines. That includes hospitals, community health centers, mass vaccination sites and pharmacies. The state, Baker said on Friday, continues to suffer from a constrained supply of vaccines, but is building up its infrastructure as the federal government has signaled additional vaccines are on the way.
“We now have — here in Massachusetts — far more capacity than we have supply and I would love to see the two of those things aligned,” Baker said.
Vaccines make their way into Massachusetts through three main channels — the state allocation, the federal pharmacy partnership, and soon through the FEMA-operated high volume site slated to open this week at the Hynes Convention Center.
The Baker administration on Friday announced the feds will bring an additional 6,000 daily doses to Hynes Convention Center by the end of March.
“That comes with federal FEMA assistance and it comes with more vaccines and the more of those we can get in Massachusetts the better, as far we’re concerned,” Baker told reporters.
The administration’s order also set the vaccine reimbursement rate for MassHealth at $45.87 per shot, which aligns with President Biden’s recent rate hike for the Medicaid reimbursement. The newly released federal rates are nearly identical to the rates previously established in Massachusetts to better support broad-scale vaccination efforts early on.