NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABLILITY OF COVID VACCINE
As many of you have already heard, the Pfizer vaccine for the COVID virus received emergency approval last night and has been released for distribution.
It is certainly good news, and we expect that more brands will be approved in the very near future.
However, along with the good news there is a lot of inaccurate information coming from a multitude of sources – social media, print media (ones that you may think are reliable) and the various types of news media.
In an effort to get the MOST ACCURATE INFORMATION, please check in regularly with the Commonwealth’s website www.mass.gov/covidvaccine. This site is the only official site for Massachusetts and it is dedicated to giving you the most accurate and up-to-date information available.
Availability of the vaccine, distribution and the actual immunization process will be posted with complete transparency. The 3-phase approach to the program is required due to the enormous complexity of the operation. The risk-group approach is based on very sound data and experience.
We have all been faced with stresses due to this pandemic. I can assure you that the Massachusetts Department of Health and every one of the 351 municipalities in the Commonwealth have been working tirelessly on these problems. The efficacy and safety of the vaccines has been subjected to rigorous scrutiny and will continue to be monitored.
We are dedicated to making sure that everyone will have access to the vaccine as quickly as possible. There will be NO CHARGE for the vaccine or administering the vaccine.
Due to the current surge in positive cases, we have moved back a step in our socialization. We are at Phase 2, Step 3 and there are changes that will be in effect as of Sunday morning at 12:01 AM (12/13/20), so it is important to check the www.mass.gov/covid19 website for details. Any organizers of an event MUST notify the local Board of Health BEFORE the event. Restaurants are also seeing some changes in protocols.
The following directives have not changed:
WEAR YOUR MASK; WASH YOUR HANDS; IF YOU FEEL ILL, STAY HOME!
Should you have questions, please contact me at ellielovejoy@townofmtwashington.com.