| Columnist
Happy new year to all in the 12th Plymouth District! As we look forward into this new year, I wanted to utilize my first column of 2021 to highlight an issue that I know many of us have been watching closely: the rollout and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.
We spent much of last year under a stay-at-home advisory looking on and waiting for good news on the vaccine front and an end to this global crisis. As 2020 came to a close, we finally got the news that numerous pharmaceutical companies had completed their vaccine trials, received FDA emergency approval and would begin shipping out doses immediately. In mid-December, the first doses of the vaccine had been shipped to Massachusetts and we have begun the process of vaccinating the population starting with health care workers performing COVID-facing care, long-term care facilities’ residents and staff, and first responders.
I have heard from numerous constituents who have had questions surrounding the rollout of the vaccine in Massachusetts and how, in other states, they have done it differently. Some of these people are frustrated that certain groups are not higher up in the list of priority groups to be vaccinated. Due to the limited supply of the vaccine, Massachusetts and other states have had to develop plans on how best to distribute the vaccine, given the fact that as of right now, there are not enough doses to allow everyone to be vaccinated.
Massachusetts’ initial plan is based on two principles. The first is supporting our health care system. Our hospitals have been under tremendous strain since the beginning of the pandemic. To ensure that we have enough doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel to continue to treat both patients with COVID and without COVID, we have prioritized vaccinating COVID-facing clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers. The second principle is reducing the loss of life. In the first phase of the pandemic, we saw a large number of deaths coming from long-term care facilities, where an outbreak can very easily spread. To reduce the risk of clusters developing in nursing and long-term care facilities, residents and staff at these facilities were next to be vaccinated.
Throughout this crisis, the Baker Administration and the Department of Public Health have relied on expertise and data to make their decisions. I am confident that they created the initial vaccine distribution plan by relying on data and infectious disease experts, and I am confident that, going forward, the plan will be updated and revised based on this data as well. I do understand, however, that many of my constituents will have genuine concerns about the current vaccine rollout, and I will be sure to continue to pass these concerns along to the Baker Administration.
I want to urge all of my constituents to continue to practice social distancing, wear a mask, and avoid going out whenever possible. Please take the vaccine when it becomes available to you. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I am confident that if we all do what it takes, 2021 will bring about a resolution to this crisis.
State Rep. Kathy LaNatra, D-Kingston, represents the 12th Plymouth District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
