Above: Southborough is part of a regional clinic, with this week’s vaccines focusing on the newest eligible group – 55+ or any age with one co-morbidity. In five days, the state will expand vaccine eligibility to everyone ages 16+.
Yesterday afternoon, the Town of Southborough announced that the long awaited regional clinic is opening today in Westborough. Each week, a “limited number of appointments” will be dedicated to Southborough residents.
I wish I had seen the information in time to share with readers yesterday, since residents’ appointments for this week needed to be booked by last night. However, the opportunity will continue for future weeks.
This is great news, considering some other vaccination opportunities had been impacted by the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week.
A couple of weeks ago when there was news of a disruption in the J&J supply, I reached out to the Town. I wanted to know if the supply issues would impact the Regional Clinic. At that time, Public Health Director Heather Alker informed me that their clinic was expected to receive either Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, so it wouldn’t be impacted. (The same is true for the state’s mass vaccination clinics.)
The announcement from the Town specifies that this week the clinic was allocated the Moderna vaccine.
Here is yesterday’s announcement with the registration information and links:
Southborough has partnered with area communities to set up a Regional Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic housed at the Westborough Doubletree Hotel located at 5400 Computer Drive. This new clinic will open on Wednesday April 14, 2021 and has been allocated 1,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine for this week.
All residents of Southborough should sign up for the State’s Pre-registration System for Covid-19 vaccination appointments if they have not done so already. Once signed up, the system will provide you with weekly status updates as to the availability of appointments for your phase. This pre-registration system will include available appointments at the Westborough Regional Clinic site.
- Link to State Preregistration System: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/preregister-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-appointment
Due to the Town’s collaboration on establishing this regional site in Westborough, a limited number of appointments will be released each week for Southborough residents only. If you are a resident, you can register for a dedicated appointment at the link below. Additional appointments will be added to the link below weekly, pending receipt of supply from the state. These appointments are kept separate from the State’s preregistration system above. Here is the list of conditions: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-vaccinations-for-individuals-with-certain-medical-conditions#eligibility-
- If you secure an appointment, you will receive an email with the details of your appointment. For appointments this week, link expires at 5 p.m. tonight [April 13]. Appointments this week are allocated to 55+ or any age with one co-morbidity. https://home.color.com/vaccine/register/northborough?calendar=e4e8a376-90ea-421a-8b63-10cbed572c48
If you have additional questions, please contact the Southborough Board of Health at 508-481-3013.
Originally, the Town had sought to hold its own clinic. The state didn’t approve those applications, focusing on mass vaccinations and larger regional efforts. Next, the Town partnered with Northborough and some other neighbors to apply for a regional clinic. According to Town Administrator Mark Purple’s briefings to selectmen, the state initially held off on approving that, since a regional clinic was sited in Worcester. He credited the Town’s State Representative Carolyn Dykema and colleagues for pushing the state to approve it.
For weeks, coordinators have been waiting to be allocated vaccines. It appears that finally came through.
