Members of mass delegation urge Charlie Baker for vaccine pre-registration

Almost all of the members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation are asking Gov. Charlie Baker to put in place a system for residents to pre-register and receive notification for appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Two months after the state’s bumpy and uneven vaccine launch, 10 of the state’s 11 all-Democratic delegation signed a letter to the Republican governor claiming that a centralized pre-registration system would help officials target populations where there is unmet demand for the vaccine and streamline the appointment scheduling process for patients and providers.

“An inconsistent and tedious registration process left seniors confused and unable to access desperately needed immunization appointments, and the disproportionate reliance on mass immunization sites left the appointments “you are unfilled and a large portion of our most vulnerable populations are not being served,” said the letter, which was dated Friday and led by Representative Katherine Clark.

The pre-registration system – where residents could provide relevant information online, over the phone or in person in advance, and then be notified later when they are eligible to make an appointment – would help mitigate these challenges, have writes lawmakers.

Representative Richard Neal was the only member of the delegation who did not sign the letter.

Baker acknowledged frustrations with the pace of the rollout, which he attributed to the limited supply, the state’s decision to prioritize highly vulnerable groups, and a higher than expected reluctance to obtain the vaccine among these groups.

However, in their letter to Baker, lawmakers expressed concern that the lack of a pre-registration system had also contributed to “the slow and inequitable roll-out of vaccines in Massachusetts, a trend that will only continue. ‘exacerbate by increased demand as nominations open up to future eligibility. groups.”

Similar systems have been implemented in states such as Florida, New Jersey, Virginia, and West Virginia. West Virginia – which, unlike Massachusetts, is a national leader in promptly administering its vaccine dose allocation – was the first state in the country to implement a system of pre-registration through Burlington-based mass communications company Everbridge.

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers recently introduced a bill to start a pre-registration system in Massachusetts, in which residents would provide personal information such as their age, occupation, and any underlying medical conditions that could prioritize them as part of the state’s three-phase vaccine rollout. The proposed system would allow users to provide a ranked number of preferred vaccination sites and then receive notification, once eligible, when appointments open at that location.

In the letter to Baker, lawmakers say a pre-registration system would remove some of the current friction in the multistep registration process and allow the state to match vaccine supply with demand at advance. Amid accessibility concerns over the state’s current focus on mass vaccination sites, the system would also advance equity efforts, lawmakers wrote, by identifying communities or groups for eligibility. where further sensitization is needed.

“We recognize that this type of emergency communication system requires funding, and we will continue to fight for federal resources both to scale up vaccine production and to help the Commonwealth ensure that vaccines are distributed fairly and effectively, ”the group wrote.