LGH’s Lowell vax site right model for state to follow

With the likely acceleration of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to Massachusetts and other states now that the one-shot Johnson & Johnson dose has been approved, the commonwealth should weigh whether its mass-inoculation-site model best serves residents waiting for that long-awaited shot in the arm.

The Baker administration indicated it prioritized “efficiency, speed, and capacity” for choosing regional vaccination locations, and in selecting for-profit companies to run them.

But two major issues have arisen as a result of those decisions — a lack of accessibility and the hefty price for the uneven performance of the entities managing those sites. While the cost for the state’s seven, high-volume vaccination centers and the amount of federal aid allocated to offset that amount remain uncertain, a sample of the state funds required for Cambridge-based startup CIC Health to run the Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium sites offer a staggering glimpse of what the final bill could be.

According to contracts obtained via a public records request by the Boston Herald, those two sites currently cost taxpayers more than

$1.1 million per week.

Given the distance challenges for the most elderly and other vulnerable populations to reach these destinations — if they were lucky enough to navigate the userunfriendly state web site — we question whether this delivery system provides the best bang for the big bucks in public outlays.

And as some unfortunate individuals have discovered, securing an appointment doesn’t necessarily ensure it will be honored.

According to several news outlets, due to a communication glitch between the state’s call-in system and Curative, the company running the mass vaccination site in Danvers, several people who made Saturday appointments through the 211 system were told the site had no record of those transactions.

This also calls into question the competency of the mass-vax site overseers.

California-based Curative was launched in January 2020 by a 25-year-old Oxford University dropout, according to the website, while CIC Health was established in June by the owners of the Cambridge Innovation Center — a real estate company.

And now some actively engaged state lawmakers have questioned whether these private vendors are in over their heads. “I am extremely concerned that these private companies are being paid exorbitant amounts of our tax dollars instead of utilizing capable, local cities and towns to assist with distribution,” state Sen. Diana DiZoglio, D- Methuen, told the Herald.

State Sen. John Cronin, a Lunenburg Democrat who represents Worcester-Middlesex District that includes Leominster, posted Monday on social media his displeasure with the current massvaccine site setup: “Today I joined many of my colleagues in the Legislature to urge the Baker administration to reassess the vaccine appointment system and to allow local municipalities to continue to administer COVID-19 vaccines,” Cronin wrote. We believe that both Sens. DiZoglio and Cronin would agree that more numerous, regional vaccination sites run by local medical centers would be a far more preferable alternative than the status quo.

And the Lowell General Hospital- Circle Health site provides the ideal example of an effective, expeditious, professionally run operation.

Convenient to both Greater-Lowell and Nasboba Valley communities, the Lowell center, located at 1001 Pawtucket Boulevard East, has been universally praised for its seamless performance, powered by a superlative web site that only needs more vaccine availability to be even more efficient.

With plenty of free parking and accessible by bus, courtesy of the Lowell Regional Transit Authority, the Lowell location provides the ideal blueprint that other areas, including Greater Lawrence, Fitchburg-Leominster Twin Cities and similar contiguous communities, could follow. The Lowell site’s success presents the right path for the state’s vaccination system to follow. We urge the commonwealth to take it.