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Residents can now search for coronavirus vaccination sites by zip code as the state seeks ways to improve its registration system after technical difficulties that have hampered registrations for seniors.
The state added the zip code search feature to its vaccine locator web page on Sunday.
Residents can now plug in their zip code to find mass vaccination sites, drugstores and grocery stores, as well as local vaccination clinics within a three to 50 mile radius. The map that shows these locations using color-coded stars is still available.
The update to the search function comes as the state prepares to begin immunizing residents aged 75 and older on Monday.
And it follows a cacophony of calls from advocates and lawmakers to ease the online registration process after technical glitches and clunky websites created confusion and anxiety among those who rushed to s ‘register themselves and their loved ones when the slot machines open last Wednesday.
“It’s a debacle,” Senator Eric Lesser told the Herald earlier this week. “When we should be having mass vaccinations, we have rather mass confusion.”
Lesser, D-Longmeadow, filed emergency legislation that would create a centralized online check-in system instead of relying on third-party websites for reservations and launch a hotline to help those who don’t. no internet access to register for the shots.
The bill was quickly co-sponsored by 57 lawmakers, including State Senator Anne Gobi D-Spencer, who led a letter with dozens of her colleagues urging Gov. Charlie Baker to open a 1-800 hotline .
Baker said on Thursday the state would open a call center next week. But the administration has so far avoided redesigning its online registration system to a centralized format.
In the meantime, municipalities are starting to launch their own call centers to help register residents for the shots and connect those who are not yet eligible with information to help them downstream.
Lawrence officials on Sunday announced plans to open a call center on Monday, saying in a press release: “The call center is an integral part of helping our elderly population deal with the technological barriers that most seniors are confronted in our community.
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