North Shore Hospitals Shut Out Of Coronavirus Vaccinations

BEVERLY, MA — As the state looks to steer those eligible for the coronavirus vaccine to mass vaccination sites like the Danvers DoubleTree Hotel, North Shore hospitals are finding themselves unable to get shots for their own patients.

Both Beverly Hospital and North Shore Medical Center informed their members that because of a shortage of doses, they will no longer be able to schedule new "first doses" of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, and instead only had enough supply for already-scheduled appointments and "second doses."

"Last week we were notified by the state that it will be greatly reducing the supply of vaccines to hospitals and health systems in order to consolidate vaccine doses for use at state-run vaccination clinics," Jennifer Kritz, Vice President of Communications, Beth Israel Lahey Health, which operates Beverly Hospital, told Patch in a statement. "As a result, we are unable to schedule any new first dose vaccination appointments for our patients at this time."

North Shore Medical Center issued a similar statement: "There are no new COVID-19 vaccine appointments available at Mass General Brigham locations. ... If you already have a scheduled appointment for a first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a Mass General Brigham vaccine clinic location, we will continue to administer that vaccine and honor your appointment."

Because of limited vaccine supply, we are no longer able to schedule any **NEW** vaccination appts for patients at Mass General Brigham vaccine clinics. If you or a family member has a vaccination appt already scheduled at one of our clinics, it will continue as scheduled. NOTE: pic.twitter.com/Myevae8iQZ
— North Shore Med Ctr. (@northshoremed) February 11, 2021

Gov. Charlie Baker said last week states that have utilized the mass vaccination sites — including the Danvers site, Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium — have been among the best performers when it comes to vaccination per capita of their eligible residents.

Both the sports venues celebrated milestones on Tuesday with Fenway Park surpassing 10,000 vaccinations and Gillette Stadium offering two tickets to the 2021 New England Patriots season opener to the 65,878th person — matching the stadium's game-day capacity — expected to be vaccinated in Foxboro on Tuesday.

But municipalities like Peabody are crying foul at being cut out of vaccinating their own residents and there are concerns that not having "trusted sources" such as health care providers vaccinating will leave some older residents, minority populations and those who are vaccine-hesitant on the wayside as the state moves through the start of Phase Two of its vaccine distribution rollout.

"Since the beginning of the patient vaccination program, Beth Israel Lahey Health has consistently utilized between 95 and 99 percent of the vaccine allocated to us," Kritz said, "distributing as much or a greater percentage of vaccine as any site in the Commonwealth., and we have done this in multiple communities throughout the state, many that have been the hardest hit by the virus, including communities of color.

Some cities and towns — like Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Salem and Swampscott — have been able to pool their state allotments for ongoing clinics, as well as the two "pop up" clinics in Danvers and Beverly this week.

Vaccines are also available through some CVS and Walgreens locations through a federal distribution program, as well as the Veterans Affairs Administration.

But for the hospitals hoping to shift their success in vaccinating their own front-line health care workers to vaccinating their patients most comfortable with them, the pipeline has at least temporarily stopped.

"We want to express our enormous appreciation to our clinicians and staff, who have made it possible for us to deliver nearly 30,000 vaccine doses over the last two weeks," Kritz said.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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