Free Groceries In Milford As MA VaxBus Rolls Into Town

MILFORD, MA — If you thought free carnival rides were a good offer, how about free groceries?

The state's VaxBus will roll into Milford on Monday offering free coronavirus vaccine shots, plus $25 gift cards to Stop & Shop, Big Y and Shaw's to the first 100 people who get the vaccine. The Milford Board of Health had a similar setup at last weekend's carnival, offering unlimited rides to anyone who got the vaccine.

But even better than groceries and rides: the shots offer very good protection against a virus that, unfortunately, has reemerged in Massachusetts. The Delta variant of COVID-19 has been pushing case numbers up across the state in recent weeks. The state reported almost 1,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, among the highest daily totals in several months.

The variant is mainly impacting people who are unvaccinated. According to state figures, only about 0.18 percent of new coronavirus cases detected in the state since the beginning of 2021 were among vaccinated people.

The VaxBus will be offering the single-shot Johnson & Johnson version, plus the two-shot Pfizer version, which has been approved for people as young as age 12. The bus will be parked at Stacy Middle School on Aug. 9 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.