Governor Baker Announces Covid-19 Vaccinations Available to Children

Photo by Eric Wheeler, Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech, 2016.

On Wednesday, May 12, 2021, Governor Charlie Baker stood in Norwood at Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing plant and announced the availability of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for children from ages 12 to 15 beginning Thursday, May 13, 2021. Although there has not been quite the mad rush for appointments that characterized the early days of the vaccine roll-out, vaccination appointments are once again in demand.

In contrast, just recently, as Massachusetts approached 3 million or almost seventy-five percent of all adult residents vaccinated, Covid-19 vaccination appointments had entered a lull.  Many appointments became hard to fill, rather than hard to find.

There was no longer a need to travel a great distance to be vaccinated, because appointments right in town remained unfilled. The unfilled time slots told the story of the remaining twenty-five percent of unvaccinated Massachusetts adults and a persisting resistance against vaccination.

Now, however, it seems likely that those who drove the earlier competition for adult vaccination appointments will be seeking vaccinations for their children. Following the lull, Governor Baker's announcement in Norwood has coincided with vaccination appointments at the Westwood Walgreens and CVS once again quickly being snatched up. Luckily, however, instead of traveling an hour’s distance to find an available appointment, one needs only to cross into a nearby town.

At the minute of this posting, appointments for the Pfizer vaccine are available at Walgreens locations in Brookline, Newton, Newton Centre, Roxbury, Roxbury Crossing, Hyde Park and Boston for Monday, May 17, 2021 through Wednesday, May 19, 2021. To determine eligibility and to register, click here.

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