Dot locals cheer as vax center opens in Codman aud
Dorchester’s Russell Auditorium usually hosts weddings, anniversaries and dances. But on Tuesday, the soft music flowing through the event hall served as the soundtrack for medical professionals sticking coronavirus vaccines into the arms of local residents.
Russell Auditorium, already a COVID-19 testing site, opened on Tuesday as a community vaccination center run by Codman Square Health Center and Boston Medical Center
“Sites like this are very important for our community,” said Sandra Cotterell, CEO of Codman Square Health Center. “Having a site for residents where they live — where they get the support of trusted people that they know from Boston Medical Center, Codman and other local health centers — will go a long way in addressing the communities they serve and help to get vaccines in the arms of those who need it.”
The site is administering about 100 shots per day to start and plans to eventually ramp up to 1,000. Other community health centers, including DotHouse Health and Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center, will also be able to refer their patients there.
With the state’s online vaccine registration system plagued by problems, Codman and BMC have teams proactively reaching out to patients who qualify for shots to get them signed up.
“That’s a different twist that is going to make us more effective, because we’re actually doing that active outreach,” Cotterell said.
Community health centers continue to be key players in getting shots into arms, particularly in Black and Latin communities hardest hit by the pandemic that are still “the most hesitant to take the vaccine,” said Thea James, associate chief medical officer at Boston Medical Center, which plans to open more vaccination sites this month in Mattapan, Hyde Park, Roslindale and the South End.
Having a local vaccination center “means everything,” said Anna Jones, who took the MBTA’s “The Ride” service to get her first vaccine dose on Tuesday.
“We can’t get all the way to Fenway, to Natick, to Gillette. Residents need sites they can easily drive to or walk to,” Jones said. Russell Auditorium, she added, is “very convenient.”
State Rep. Russell Holmes, D-Mattapan, said more efforts are needed to understand and combat vaccine hesitancy. And while he said coronavirus case and hospitalization rates are improving, “this is definitely not the time to let up on our gas.”
State Attorney General Maura Healey is playing coy about her potential gubernatorial ambitions even as she ramps up her criticism of the state’s rocky coronavirus vaccine rollout in a string of public appearances and social media posts.
Healey, long floated as a possible contender in the 2022 governor’s race, has now toured two community vaccination sites in as many days, lent her voice to calls for Gov. Charlie Baker to put asthma on the list of medical conditions eligible for vaccines, and slammed various aspects of his administration’s vaccine rollout — from website failures to the decision to cut doses to hospitals.
But asked by the Herald on Tuesday whether that’s all a precursor to a potential gubernatorial bid, Healey said “no.”
“This is me doing my job,” Healey said after touring a vaccination site at Dorchester’s Russell Auditorium. “From the beginning I’ve run an attorney general’s office that’s been about trying to serve people.”
Healey said she’s worked “cooperatively with the Baker administration” and “does appreciate some of the moves” being made to improve equity in the rollout.
But, she said, “When I see there is an issue that needs attention, I will also not be afraid to call that out.”
A source close to Healey told the Herald the highly visible AG is not focused on the 2022 election right now, and pointed to her activism on unlawful evictions and food insecurity throughout the pandemic.
But Democratic strategist Tony Cignoli said Healey’s recent ramp-up is “an indication that she’s looking to run.”
“It’s not typically her role to be involved” in something like the vaccine rollout, Cignoli said. “That kind of criticism of a gubernatorial administration that has someone in it … who will likely be the candidate is telling.”
Baker hasn’t said whether he’ll seek a third term and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who’s waiting in the wings, continues to outraise him.
Healey would be a formidable challenger against either, and has been building support for years through endorsements in local and statelevel races. And while she lost a foil in former President Donald Trump, she’s continuing to make noise nationally by pushing President Biden to cancel student loan debt.
“She’s hitting national and state issues that aren’t necessarily attorney general issues, but that would play to a significant base in Massachusetts,” Cignoli said.