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The head of the state firefighters union said he feared its members would end up getting hosed for vaccinations due to a “lack of coordination and communication” from the state.
Richard MacKinnon Jr., president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts union, said the state left first responder vaccinations to local health boards to get the jakes vaccinated – and that leads to varying results.
“It seems there was a lack of a plan,” MacKinnon told the Herald on Tuesday. “It’s just a general lack of coordination and communication.”
MacKinnon said he doesn’t blame the boards of health, which in small towns just aren’t very staffed and are already overtaxed. Instead, the state should take the reins and set up vaccination centers, he said – or just train some of the jakes, many of whom are already paramedics or paramedics, and let them do it themselves.
“Massachusetts has still not provided any date, time or location for vaccination,” the union tweeted on Tuesday. “Most of our members are paramedics and paramedics, which would allow us to give each other the shots.”
The COVID-19 response command center said in a statement that the state is “actively working” with local health departments, local hospitals and other medical providers to determine the ability to immunize people – and to identify sites where first responders can be vaccinated, a spokeswoman said.
“First responders are given priority in the first phase of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan, and based on current estimates, the state plans to start vaccinations for police, firefighters and EMS in mid-January, ”said spokesperson Kate Reilly. “The command center and the public safety executive office are looking forward to this week’s meeting with first responders to review the planning underway to set up the vaccination sites. More information will be made available as this process progresses. “
She said the state will release an initial list of sites by the end of the month, and more providers will be added once they identify the capacity. Reilly said the state is “actively researching” sites and identifying clinical partners to set up mass vaccination sites, which will launch in early 2021.
MacKinnon, a firefighter from Whitman, said there are currently 805 of his union’s more than 12,000 members with COVID-19, plus 650 others who are in quarantine. He said cases continued to be on the rise.
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