Residents can now make appointments to get free Covid and influenza shots at five vaccination clinics offered by the Cambridge Public Health Department this month. The department has traditionally provided flu and Covid vaccinations in October; this year eligibility for and supply of Covid vaccines were uncertain after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, became head of the federal government’s Department of Health and Human Services.
People can schedule appointments at the local department’s website. The clinics will be held:
Oct. 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Citywide Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square
Oct. 23 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the King Open School, 850 Cambridge St., Wellington-Harrington
Oct. 24 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Cambridge Community Center, 5 Callender St., Riverside
Oct. 29 from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Reservoir Church, 170 Rindge Ave., North Cambridge
Oct. 30 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the Pisani Center, 131 Washington St., The Port
Somerville residents also have access to five free city-run flu and Covid vaccinations in October. The all-ages events are Thursday, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Office of Immigrant Affairs, 42 Cross St., East Somerville; Oct. 16 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at City Hall Annex, 50 Evergreen Ave., Winter Hill; and Oct. 27 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Somerville Public Library West Branch, 40 College Ave., near Davis Square.
A Somerville senior vaccine clinic is Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and an 18-plus clinic is Oct. 21 from 2:30 to 4 p.m., both at the Council on Aging, 167 Holland St., in the Tufts neighborhood near Teele Square. (More Somerville clinics go into November.)
Path back to vaccinations
Doubts about eligibility for the updated Covid vaccine began after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration adopted restrictions ruling that people 64 and younger should get shots only if they had a health condition that put them at high risk from the virus. The FDA didn’t recommend restrictions for those 65 and older.
Then the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, whose decisions can govern insurance coverage and federal vaccine financing for low-income children, decided not to recommend Covid shots for anyone, instead advising people to consult a doctor or other clinician about getting the updated Covid vaccine. Kennedy had replaced the committee’s members, mostly with vaccination doubters.
In response to the federal decisions, several medical groups published their own guidelines. State officials, including Massachusetts governor Maura Healey and health commissioner Robbie Goldstein, also issued their own recommendations, with East Coast and West Coast states forming groups to align themselves on vaccinations. The Massachusetts recommendations allow anyone 6 months or older to get an updated Covid shot, adding that the shots are recommended without caveats for infants and toddlers 6 months to 2 years and those 65 and older, and are especially important for those between those age groups with risky health conditions.
The state also changed a rule that required pharmacists to follow ACIP guidance for Covid shots, which had blocked all Covid vaccinations in Massachusetts drugstores until the committee met last month. The vast majority of people nationwide get vaccinated in pharmacies. After the state eliminated the committee requirement Sept. 4, pharmacists could give updated Covid shots to anyone 5 and older. Younger children get their shots from doctors.
A delay before booking
The Cambridge Public Health Department announced vaccination clinic dates, times and locations last month but didn’t start allowing people to book appointments until Oct. 1. Spokesperson Dawn Baxter had said the department wanted to know for sure what it could offer “before making commitments to the public.”
Baxter said Friday the department will also provide vaccinations at 10 clinics in senior low-income housing, shelters and at free meals sites, during the two weeks starting Monday. The department has traditionally offered shots to these special populations.
As for the five bigger clinics, the form allowing people to make an appointment includes a statement asking applicants to certify that they had a chance to consult with a clinician – the committee recommendation but not the state guideline. The local department as well as the state Department of Public Health use Color, a Burlingame, California, company that provides vaccine administration services nationwide, to manage vaccination programs. Color provides the form for making a vaccination appointment at the Cambridge vaccination clinics.
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