Every adult over the age of 16 will be eligible for a coronavirus vaccine in Massachusetts starting on April 19. But in a rollout already steeped in problems, many are concerned that opening up eligibility more may further disenfranchise communities already hit hard by the virus.
Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Healthcare, says that making sure vaccines get into the arms of the most vulnerable benefits everyone.
"I know no better analogy than thinking about this as a forest fire of sorts," Dickson said. "Every time somebody gets infected and gets immunity, every time somebody gets vaccinated and gets immunity, it's like picking up dry kindling off the floor of the forest and preventing the fire from spreading. If there are pockets where we allow this infection to smolder, people aren't being vaccinated, people aren't wearing their masks, it gives the opportunity for the areas that were once clean and protected to lose their immunity and the place for the fire to restart. If you put the fire out completely, it won't restart anywhere."
Dickson said that if the virus takes hold in a particular community where vaccination rates are low, there's more potential for that virus to simmer and produce more variant strains, some of which may not be susceptible to vaccines.
He added that roughly 20% of the eligible population in Massachusetts has been vaccinated right now, but his vaccine sites have the capacity to vaccinate 50% more people if more doses are available.
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