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Governor Charlie Baker announced on Thursday that anyone eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine under Phase 1 of the state’s deployment program can now schedule an appointment to be vaccinated.
This now includes home health workers and coping non-COVID health workers, as well as workers and residents of collective care facilities such as shelters and prisons. The vaccine was already available to healthcare workers, staff and residents of long-term care facilities facing COVID, as well as first responders such as police, firefighters and paramedics.
Among those that fall into the home health worker category are personal care attendants (PCAs); mental and behavioral health care providers offering treatment at home; aging service agency staff making regular home visits; and many other groups, according to the list of states.
Healthcare workers who are not facing COVID and who are now eligible for the vaccine include dentists, dental students, and dental hygienists; inpatient and outpatient physiotherapists; blood donation agents; audiologists and speech therapists; asthma and allergy specialists; chiropractors; acupuncturists; and a wide range of other professionals.
Here are the full lists of Phase 1 groups that are newly eligible to receive hits, by state:
Home health workers, including:
- PT / OT / SLP therapists who work with medically complex home students
- Personal Care Attendants (PCA)
- Home care, palliative care and home care agency staff making home visits
- Independent nurses and permanent qualified nurses making home visits
- Aging staff in service agencies making regular home visits
- State agency staff providing direct home care, including DCF emergency response workers, DMH case managers, and DDS care coordinators
- Mental and behavioral health care providers offering home treatment (eg, Integrated Team ACCS, PACT, CBHI, ABA, ESP)
- Workers of adult foster families and adult foster families in groups doing homework
- Independent therapists (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists) doing homework
- Home respite and individual / family support staff (DDS and self-managed DDS)
Healthcare workers providing non-COVID care, including:
- Dentists / dental students and dental hygienists (unless regularly working with COVID-19 positive or suspected patients such as oral surgeons covering the emergency, in which case should be considered COVID-facing)
- Medical and nursing students (unless working regularly with positive or suspected COVID-19 patients, in which case should be considered COVID-facing)
- Inpatient and outpatient physiotherapists (unless regularly working with COVID-19 positive or suspected patients, in which case should be considered COVID-facing)
- Interpreters who work in hospitals (unless regularly working with COVID-19 positive or suspected patients, in which case should be considered COVID-facing)
- Behavioral health clinicians are not already covered by group care or direct care
- Non-COVID laboratories confronted
- Blood Donation Agents
- Organ donation agents
- Palliative care professionals
- Non-COVID Imaging Professionals
- Dialysis center workers and patients
- Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists (unless regularly working with COVID-19 positive or suspected patients, in which case should be considered COVID-facing)
- Podiatrists and Speech-Language Pathologists (unless regularly working with COVID-19 positive or suspected patients, in which case should be considered COVID-facing)
- All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) staff
- SUD treatment program staff (if the program is not residential)
- Asthma and Allergy Specialists
- Sleep diagnostic center staff
- Chiropractors
- School nurses (other than those working as vaccinators / testers)
- Members of the clergy (if they work in patient-facing roles)
- Acupuncturists
The next step will be Phase 2, which is expected to launch at some point in February, according to the state. The phase includes, in order of priority, people with at least two comorbidities; those aged 75 and over; residents and staff of low-income and affordable public and private seniors’ housing; preschool education workers, K-12 schools, public transportation, grocery store, utilities, food and agriculture, restaurants and cafes; employees in the food, beverage, agriculture, consumer goods, retail and food service industries; meat packers; sanitation, public works and public health officers; vaccine development agents; pantry workers and volunteers; Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing service workers; pharmacy delivery drivers; workers in the land passenger transport industry; MassPort employees other than the police; water and wastewater service personnel; justice system workers such as judges, lawyers and court clerks, but not court officials, who are listed as first responders; workers in the medical supply chain; funeral directors and funeral workers; workers at ports and shipping terminals; adults 65 and over; and people with comorbidity.
Next, says the state site, Massachusetts is expected to begin phase 3 of the rollout in April, when the vaccine “should be available to the general public,” including higher education workers such as administrators, teachers and non-teaching staff. ; workers in the bottled beverage industry; and veterinarians.
“Once the vaccine is available to the general public, public immunization clinics will be available on the CDC’s interactive website: vaccinfinder.org,” the state site says. “You can also check with your primary care provider, local pharmacy or local health department. “
Speaking during his regular State House briefing on Thursday, Baker said that “based on the number of people who have been vaccinated, who were part of the first part of phase 1, we now assume that anyone in phase 1 should go to the website, find a site near them, and go get dosed. Because they [vaccination sites] are now open. All.”
The website he referred to is mass.gov/covidvaccinemap, which provides information on eligibility and locations of vaccination sites, as well as appointment scheduling instructions.
The state website also reminds residents that “the vaccine requires two doses. You should receive the same vaccine for doses one and two and therefore you should receive both doses at the same site. “
Travis Andersen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @TAGlobe.
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