18,500 vaccine doses have been administered there
Boston Herald
By Rick Sobey
Congressman Stephen Lynch and others are praising community health centers fighting against COVID-19, including the South Boston Community Health Center where nearly 20,000 vaccine doses have been administered.
Lynch outside the Southie health center said he was “enormously proud of the work being done here,” praising the center for getting a significant amount of its patients vaccinated against the coronavirus.
It was the first community health center in Boston to get a freezer that was capable of handling the Pfizer vaccine, he said, adding it was among the first centers in Massachusetts to be awarded direct federal COVID-19 vaccine supply.
About 18,500 vaccines have been administered at the site through Thursday.
early 95% of the health center’s staff have been vaccinated.
“That is amazing,” Lynch said. “That is unmatched in any of the facilities in Massachusetts. It’s absolutely incredible, and I’m trying to encourage some of the other facilities that are doing this work to get up to that standard.”
When it comes to the health center’s patients: 70% of patients who are 75-plus have been fully vaccinated; 80% of those 75-plus have gotten at least one dose; 65% of patients who are between 65 and 74 years old have been fully vaccinated; and 79% of that group have gotten at least one dose.
Overall, 42% of all its health center patients have received at least one dose.
In all of South Boston, almost 22,000 people have gotten at least one dose, according to the city’s weekly vaccination report. That’s about 61% of the neighborhood.
The feds through the American Rescue Plan have supplied $7.6 billion to community health centers across the country, helping with vaccination and testing.
“It’s been a godsend to make sure that we have the resources necessary for these good people to do the work that they do,” Lynch said.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn thanked Lynch for helping with the funding for these sites across Massachusetts, and also thanked the health center staff.
“We’re proud of you,” Flynn said, “And you’ve saved a lot of lives through your hard work.”
The chief medical officer at the health center, Nisha Thakrar, called it an “incredible team effort” since day one of the pandemic.
Thakrar also encouraged everyone to get vaccinated, adding, “It’s the only way out of this pandemic.”
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