Mayor Coogan: Lt. governor promised regional COVID vaccine site coming to SouthCoast

FALL RIVER — SouthCoast residents won’t have to drive to Gillette Stadium next month to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot at a regional, large-scale inoculation site.

That was the message delivered Friday by both Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan and state Rep. Carole Fiola, D-Fall River.

“We’re going to be fine down here,” Coogan said, in terms of access to a regional site that will be closer than Foxboro.

He added: “We’ll be getting our share of vaccines shortly.”

The mayor said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito had assured him during a phone call Friday afternoon that a regional vaccine site will be established in the Fall River vicinity in time for the start of the state’s Phase 2 vaccination plan.

Coogan said site candidates could include the parking lots at Fall River’s Bristol Community College and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus.

A Bristol campus parking lot has already been selected by the state as a drive-through site for free coronavirus testing.

Since this past Monday a UMass Dartmouth campus building has been utilized as a vaccine inoculation site for Dartmouth and Westport first responders including police, fire and paramedic personnel.

As of Friday, there have been 253 COVID-19-related deaths in Fall River during the last 10 months and nearly 10,000 confirmed cases of residents who have contracted the infectious disease.

Nearly three-quarters of Massachusetts municipalities — including those spanning from Swansea to Mattapoisett — are now designated as color code red, indicating a high percentage of positive coronavirus cases.

Although there is not yet a precise date, Phase 2 in the commonwealth is set to begin in February and extend into March.  

The first group of people eligible for Phase 2 vaccines will be residents 75 and older as well as anyone with two or more comorbidities, or preexisting serious medical conditions.

Fiola said preliminary plans for a regional vaccination site in the Fall River region are being discussed by the Department of Public Health and Gov. Charlie Baker’s office.

“I feel confident our Fall River people will not be driving to Gillette Stadium to get their vaccines,” she said.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell earlier in the day posted an image on Twitter of a map showing 12 locations in the state, the closest of which is Gillette Stadium, that purportedly will be used as regional vaccine sites.

Mitchell, who earlier in the week made public the fact that he had tested positive for COVID-19, said he posted it to remind state officials why people in the southeastern region often complain about being considered as “an afterthought.”

Fiola said she understands that people are anxious to get the vaccine.

“People are on edge and want it today, and that’s everybody,” she said. “But I’m optimistic a plan will be in place (for Fall River). This is a very complex rollout.”

Fiola’s husband, Kenneth, who is executive vice president of the nonprofit Bristol County Economic Development Consultants, spent two weeks in quarantine after contracting the coronavirus.

“He had very mild symptoms, and I didn’t catch it — it’s a very strange disease,” she said.

More:Free COVID testing in Fall River set to start in Bristol Community College parking lot

Both Walgreens and CVS Health in emails said they will participate in the Bay State’s Phase 2 inoculation program.

CVS said per an agreement with the federal Department of Health and Human Services, COVID-19 vaccines will eventually be available to all CVS pharmacy sites throughout the country.

Appointments will be available using either the company’s app or website or by calling a special 800 number.

Walgreens says COVID-19 vaccinations will be available in all of its more than 9,000 store locations with appointments being scheduled either online or by app.

In all cases of inoculations, everyone who gets either the Pfizer of Moderna vaccine is required to wait 15 minutes before leaving to assure there are no adverse reactions.

It’s not clear at this time how many doctors with private practices will offer the vaccine.

Two Fall River residents, both of whom are over 75, said they’re not overly concerned about the availability of the Phase 2 vaccines.

“I’ll get it from somewhere — I’m not concerned in the slightest,” said retired Fall River public school teacher Walter Mikolazyk, 78.

Joe Cab of Tiverton, 89, said he expects to get his shot at CVS: “They told me last week they’ll have it in two weeks,” he said.

Tonya Johnson, vice president of operations for Southcoast Hospital Group, which includes Charlton Memorial Hospital, St. Luke’s in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham, said the hospital group will make the vaccine available to all its patients.

She said that includes the thousands of patients of physicians who belong to the Southcoast Health organization.

Johnson said patients will be contacted by their doctors’ offices to schedule appointments.

She said there will be “at least three” inoculation sites either in or near the hospitals.

Johnson said at least 4,500 Southcoast frontline medical workers have received the vaccine with 2,000 having gotten their second of two shots.

More:'Hope for a brighter future': Southcoast Health nurse is first to receive COVID vaccine

She says she and her staff take part in weekly surveys with the Department of Health, to keep the department assessed of the their demand for vaccines and to ensure that there’s no stockpiling of vaccines.

Southcoast Health spokesman Shawn Badgley said doses might also be distributed to some smaller practices within the Southcoast Health network, including surgical centers, primary care practices and physical therapy facilities.

Badgley said hospitals have been getting phone calls and that emails have been sent to the hospital group from people seeking information about getting inoculated as part of Phase 2.

“We certainly understand that impulse to want to know when and how they will be getting the vaccine,” he said. “But we want folks to be assured they will receive the vaccine. It’s just a matter of time and supply.”

Badgley also stressed that people getting the two vaccine shots should remain on guard in terms of social distancing and wearing masks in public.

“The vaccine is not a magic wand,” he said. “It’s just one arrow in a quiver, and we all play a part in keeping safe.”

Steward Health Care, parent company of St. Anne's Hospital, did not respond to a request for comment.