Baker, pols clash again over vax
Lawmakers clashed with Gov. Charlie Baker during a second oversight hearing on the state’s coronavirus vaccine rollout, with one state senator saying they live in “two different worlds” and another declaring a “tale of two public healths.”
“One thing that is abundantly clear here is that we have conflicting testimony in terms of how much, how little, how prepared or underprepared was our public health and regional emergency preparedness for dispensing COVID-19 vaccines,” House chairman of the Joint Committee on COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness Rep. William Driscoll Jr., D-milton, told the Herald following more than five hours of virtual testimony from stakeholders on Tuesday.
The Republican governor defended his strategy of using a mix of hospitals, regional public health collaborative, pharmacies and forprofit companies to stand up 7 mass vaccination clinics, saying the state “has made real progress.”
Health Secretary Marylou Sudders said, “many local health departments … lack capacity to meet national public health standards … local public health is inconsistent.”
Dawn Carmen Sibor, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Officers Association accused Baker of funneling “hundreds of millions” of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of private companies as they respond to the coronavirus crisis while local public health officials remain largely sidelined.
“This could be an opportunity to build our local public health infrastructure and prepare for the next pandemic,” Sibor said.
A recent Herald report found mass vaccination sites run by CIC Health at Fenway Park and Gillette alone cost taxpayers a minimum of $1.1 million per week.
Andover Public Health Director Thomas Carbone said local officials have been planning for two decades and said vulnerable community members “are best served by being vaccinated in our communities by people familiar to them.”
Sen. Julian Cyr, D-truro, said the fact Baker “threw that playbook out and went with something different is deeply concerning.”
“I’m hearing a tale of two public healths,” Cyr said.
Sen. Cindy Friedman said she was “taken aback” by Baker’s comments and “odious” comparisons.
“When you have 4% of our Latinx community where they are 75% of the population, that is nothing to be excited about,” says Friedman.
She says it feels like Baker and lawmakers exist in “different worlds.”
Lisa Kashinsky contributed to this article.