Congregate Care Vaccinations Start Monday

As Berkshire County continues to see an increase in cases of coronavirus and a recent spike in deaths over the past couple of days, plans are set for the next phase of vaccine distribution.

Berkshire County saw six new COVID-19 deaths Thursday, for a new total of 178 deaths. The Berkshire Eagle reported today in "The Checkup" that Thursday was the second day in a row that brought reports of six deaths in the county – the most in any of the four western counties, including Hampden County, which has nearly four times the population of Berkshire County. The confirmed case count for the Berkshires rose Thursday by 74 to 3,807, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Vaccinations will begin on Monday in Berkshire County for people who live and work in congregate care facilities, shelter programs, and correctional facilities. This will include over 94,000 eligible individuals, both residents and staff, across the Commonwealth. This wave of vaccinations includes residential congregate care programs, including group homes, residential treatment programs, community-based acute residential treatment programs, and clinical stabilization service programs, emergency shelter programs including homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, and Veterans’ shelters, and approved private special education schools which offer residential services and are approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and correctional facilities.

Correctional facilities will begin vaccinations for staff and inmates as well next week. Congregate care vaccinations have already begun at some facilities that had enrolled in the Federal Pharmacy Partnership Program with CVS and Walgreens.

More information about the vaccine distribution timeline can be found at mass.gov/covidvaccine.