The only large-scale COVID-19 vaccination clinic in western Massachusetts administered its last shot Tuesday. The change comes as Springfield struggles still to increase its vaccination rate.
Set up in a former Macy’s store in the Eastfield Mall in Springfield, it was one of seven high volume vaccination clinics opened by the state last winter. All are closing down as more than 60 percent of the state’s adult population is fully vaccinated and strategies shift to reach the vaccine-hesitant.
A vaccination site at the Big E fairgrounds that was a collaborative effort by the boards of health in a half-dozen cities and towns in western Hampden County closed on June 17th.
The city of Springfield will keep supplying vaccine to neighborhood clinics even though few people are showing up these days to get shots, said Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris.
"We need to make sure our residents have options, so we will keep our clinics open just as they are and hopefully the foot traffic will increase," Caulton-Harris said.
She said outreach events are planned in city parks in July including a basketball tournament to try to persuade more people to be vaccinated.
Pride Stores will be holding vaccination clinics at some of the convenience store chain’s locations in Springfield. The Big Y supermarket chain will offer vaccinations at its store on Saint James Ave. in Springfield on the last two weekends in July.
"There are a lot of individuals trying to get our vaccination numbers up, there is a lot of outreach going on in our neighborhoods," Caulton-Harris said.
Springfield’s vaccination rate continues to lag the state as a whole by about 20 percentage points. In a report to the City Council’s COVID-19 Response Committee Tuesday, Caulton-Harris said the city’s vaccination rate is 41.1 percent compared to 60.4 percent of the state being fully-vaccinated.
"So, we moved the needle a bit, but not a whole bunch," Caulton-Harris said.
City Councilor Jesse Lederman, who chairs the COVID-19 Response Committee, said Councilors will be asked to suggest high-traffic areas in their Wards where vaccination outreach efforts should take place.
"The more we can have it omni-present and even if individuals maybe don't choose at that event to get vaccinated maybe then can get some information and think about it," Lederman said.
Even with the lagging vaccination rate, the risk of coronavirus infection is very low in Springfield at the moment. There were just 153 confirmed COVID-19 cases in June. But, Caulton-Harris cautioned the virus may not be through with us yet.
"I am concerned I think we should all be concerned about going into the winter or the colder weather when we go back inside again," Caulton-Harris said.
Caulton-Harris said she had no information on how many of the new cases in Springfield are from the delta variant of the virus.
The variant accounts for about 25 percent of new cases in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
