A state-run hotline for COVID-19 vaccination appointments will launch this week, according to Gov. Charlie Baker, who asked residents to be patient when seeking a vaccine.
"I do think the launch of the call center, especially for people who aren't familiar with how to use websites in the first place, will make a big difference with respect to accessing appointments," Baker said after touring a mass vaccination site inside Boston's Fenway Park.
Baker has faced scrutiny for the limited number of appointments available and the performance of the state's appointment web portal, which users have criticised for being hard to navigate and linking to separate vaccine providers instead of offering a centralized clearing house.
Baker said he's not happy with the state's performance during the rollout of the vaccines.
"We have work to do, and we know that," Baker said. "And one of the best things a good manager does is recognizes and understands that they have a problem and then busts their butt to figure out how to fix it."
The lack of a phone-based appointment system meant older residents now eligible for vaccines had to try their luck with the website, which even when functioning well is still limited by the supplies of vaccine federal authorities are distributing to Massachusetts.
Baker said last week he "would have liked" to have the phone system operational for the start of Phase 2. The governor said Wednesday he will make a more formal announcement about adding a call center for appointments "later this week."
Days after the launch of the website, dozens of lawmakers signed on to a bill filed by Sen. Eric Lesser, D-First Hampden & Hampshire, to force Baker, a Republican, to implement an additional phone-based system.
"I've heard, and my colleagues have heard from their constituents in every corner of the state, that the system is confusing, that it's inconsistent," Lesser told the State House News Service on Thursday, just a day after the website's launch.
"It's really just frankly a maze of links and various, sometimes-contradictory instructions that seniors have to navigate in order to book the appointment," Lesser said.
The Legislature has not taken up the bill, which will likely be made moot by the governor's new system.
Baker addressed reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that Massachusetts has only administered 60% of the total amount of vaccine that federal authorities have distributed to the state. Baker said 645,104 doses had been administered as of Monday night out of just over a million doses that have been shipped to providers in the state.
Baker said some medical provider organizations like hospital chains had originally received doses to vaccinate more employees than were eligible and are now applying that surplus to patients who are eligible. On top of that, pharmacies working with nursing homes and long-term care centers received too many doses that went unused and now need to be redeployed.
"One of our big issues here in Massachusetts was they gave us, they sent way more vaccine booked to Massachusetts for the long-term care piece than were actually arms available to vaccinate," Baker said, adding that the state should see a significant increase in the number of shots administered by pharmacies as these surplus supplies are used.
"Both of those things should make a difference with respect to the relationship between shipped and administered," Baker said.
Fenway Park has been in use as a vaccination center since Monday, when the state entered Phase 2 of it's vaccination plan, which focuses on residents 75 and over. Red Sox officials say that they expect to start out giving 500 doses a day from concession booths and other spaces inside the park before ramping up to 1,250 shots a day.
