Last Mile bringing shots to homes
Coronavirus vaccine outreach targets vulnerable populations
LEOMINSTER » Last Mile Vaccine Delivery, the mobile COVID-19 vaccination service formed by Woburn’s Mascon Medical, Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, and Brewster Ambulance Service, went on the road Wednesday, vaccinating 23 people where they call home.
“There is a subset of the population that is homebound and the only way for them to get the vaccine is to have someone come to their home,” said John Chen, president and CEO of Mascon Inc., Mascon Medical’s parent company. “This is one of the original reasons we started Last Mile.”
Leominster seniors Abigail Letourneau and Laura Begoche were two of the nearly two dozen people vaccinated at home on Wednesday by Brewster Ambulance Service EMT Rob Barss.
“My daughter works in the medical field, she thought it was a good idea at my age,” Letourneau said when asked why she wanted to get the vaccine.
When Barss was asked if she had been tested for COVID-19, she said no.
“I’ve never been tested, I don’t go anywhere,” Letourneau said.
She opted for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in her left arm, which is currently one shot and not two like the other widely distributed vaccines.
“You are now vaccinated,” Barss said after administering the shot to Letourneau. “In a couple of weeks, you are free to roam the planet.”
So far Last Mile, which Chen said is, “answering the call to augment COVID-19 vaccinations among the commonwealth’s most-vulnerable communities,” has vaccinated close to 5,000 eligible people since it launched in January. There are 11 clinics this week scheduled around the state, where they expect to vaccinate an additional 3,000 people.
“As a minority-owned business, Mascon Medical is sensitive to the needs of the commonwealth’s most vulnerable residents and created Last Mile Vaccine Delivery to help resolve equity issues with COVID-19 vaccine distribution and answer the call of Governor Charlie Baker to accel
erate COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Massachusetts,” Chen said. “Last Mile Vaccine Delivery is committed to supporting efforts to address vaccine access, equity, and hesitancy.”
The service held its first vaccine clinic in Leominster in an empty retail space at The Mall at Whitney Field on March 16. The vaccinations were then and are now by appointment only, and began providing weekly vaccination clinics every Wednesday beginning March 24 in the same space. It has also been administering vaccines at home through mobile vaccination units, of which Chen said “the goal is to address transportation and accessibility challenges in local urban communities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
There were 500 second shots of the Moderna vaccine administered on Tuesday and 400 Johnson & Johnson shots on Wednesday at the mall clinic, the latter number including the home visits.
Brewster Ambulance Service paramedics and EMTs administer the vaccines and asked participants some questions prior to giving them the shot, including if any had reactions to vaccines in the past and about allergies.
Those who receive the vaccine, both at the mall clinics and during a home visit, are monitored for 15 minutes afterwards in case of an adverse reaction. Leominster Fire Department Deputy Chief Scott Cordio and firefighter Shawn Phillips were at the home visits on Wednesday to monitor vaccine recipients. Last Mile clinics have been held in Leominster, Chelsea, Quincy, Boston’s South End and East Boston.
“We strongly believe in providing equity and access to vaccines in your zip code,” Chen said. “We also know that scalability will be a big issue. As vaccines become more available, manpower will be a significant issue.”
Chen said Brewster has been its “partner” at every clinic, staffing the clinicians who administer the vaccine, and Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts provides staff for observation.
“Our program is very flexible, and we have partnered with numerous organizations to help deliver vaccines to the most vulnerable,” Chen said. “We have a great partnership with East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, South End Community Health Center, and Get Out The Vaccine that is really getting to some of the most underserved communities. There are more partnerships and collaborations in development that you will see over the next few weeks.”
Last Mile Vaccine Delivery administers Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson brand vaccines.