Baker-Polito Administration Provides Weekly Dose Updates, $100 Million for Disproportionately Impacted Communities, Announces Homebound Vaccination Program

Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced the weekly distribution of COVID-19 vaccine doses to providers across the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth has received 330,000 first and second doses from the federal government as part of the state allocation of doses.

The Administration also announced $100 million in funding for four communities – Chelsea, Everett, Methuen and Randolph – that are all designated hardest hit communities but received disproportionately smaller levels of federal funding in the recently passed $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act compared to other communities.

The Administration also announced the launch of the Commonwealth’s homebound vaccination program to build on the Administration’s efforts to ensure that all residents of the Commonwealth have equitable access to the vaccine.

Dose Update

The Administration provided the weekly update for doses allocated from the federal government.

This week, the state received a modest increase in supply of first doses, for a total of 172,000. This includes 7,900 doses of J&J vaccine.

In total, the Commonwealth received 330,000 first and second doses as part of the state allocation. These figures do not include doses provided directly from the federal government to the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program or to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC).

This week, first doses and second dose state allocations (total doses), were distributed among providers as follows:

• Health systems and health care providers (excluding community health centers): 115,120
• Mass vaccination locations: 109,750
• Regional Collaboratives and Local Boards of Health: 55,850
• Community Health Centers: 28,820
• Retail pharmacies (non-CVS) state allocation: 10,350
• Mobile Clinics supporting long-term care facilities, congregate care, affordable/low-income senior housing and homebound individuals: 9,800

Weekly allocations are subject to change based on federal availability, demand from providers, and obligations to meet second doses. Providers have 10 days to use their doses and must meet specific performance thresholds.

The Administration has also been informed that the federal government will send a one-time allocation of 40,800 doses of J&J vaccine to the Commonwealth next week as well as a one-time allocation of 20,000 Pfizer first doses.

Federal Doses:

In addition to the state allocation, the federal government distributes vaccines to CVS Health sites as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Partnership as well as to certain Massachusetts federally qualified community health centers. These quantities fluctuate on a weekly basis and are not counted as part of the state’s weekly allocation.

This week, 115,800 first and second doses were allocated to the retail pharmacy program.

15 FQHCs received 24,570 doses directly from the Federal Government.

Municipal Funding

The Baker-Polito Administration today announced that a total of $100 million in aid will be distributed to Chelsea, Everett, Methuen, and Randolph, four communities that were hit hardest by COVID-19 but are expected to receive disproportionally smaller amounts of federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. These four municipalities will be able to use this $100 million in direct aid to support costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including direct response efforts, addressing negative economic impacts, replacing revenue lost during the pandemic, making investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, as well as other eligible expenditures.

Based on preliminary estimates published by the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Massachusetts is expected to receive a total of approximately $7.9 billion in direct aid through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, including $3.4 billion to counties, cities, and towns in Massachusetts. A portion of this $3.4 billion is being allocated to municipalities based on the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program formula, while assistance to other communities is being allocated on a per-capita basis. The use of these two different allocation formulas creates disparities in distributions among cities and towns, and Chelsea, Everett, Methuen, and Randolph are the four designated hardest hit communities with disproportionately smaller levels of federal funding compared to other hardest hit communities.

The commitment announced today by the Baker-Polito Administration includes distributing $100 million to address disparities in funding allocations among these four hardest hit communities after the US Treasury publishes final payment figures in the coming weeks. The Administration will work with the Legislature to use existing or future sources of federal revenue to fund this commitment.

Homebound Vaccination Program

Beginning March 29, the Administration will launch a homebound vaccination program to provide in-home vaccinations to homebound individuals who cannot leave their home, even with supports, to get to a COVID-19 vaccine appointment.

In-home vaccinations will be available to homebound individuals who:

• Have considerable difficulty and/or require significant support to leave the home for medical appointments
• Require an ambulance or two-person assistance to leave the home
• Are not able to leave home for medical appointments under normal circumstances.

168 local Boards of Health (representing about 40% of MA’s population) will conduct a homebound vaccination program for their community residents, while homebound residents of 183 municipalities (representing 60% of MA’s population) will receive vaccines through the statewide service through Commonwealth Care Alliance (CCA).

Health care providers, Aging Services Access Points (ASAP), Local Boards of Health, Councils on Aging (COAs) and other community organizations will be connecting individuals to the homebound program. In addition, homebound individuals and their loved ones can call 1-833-983-0485 to schedule an appointment and determine if they meet eligibility for in-home vaccination. The registration phone line is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM and has representatives who speak English and Spanish, as well as translation services available in 100+ languages.

“CCA is honored to lead this critical mission of vaccinating homebound citizens of Massachusetts,” said Christopher D. Palmieri, President and Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Care Alliance. “Since our inception, CCA’s approach to care has been rooted in the community to ensure the most appropriate site of care for the individuals we so proudly serve. Over the past few weeks, we have successfully vaccinated hundreds of our own homebound health plan members, and our team is ready to expand this effort across the state and aid the Commonwealth’s vaccination effort in any way we can.”

About Commonwealth Care Alliance

Commonwealth Care Alliance (CCA) is a Massachusetts-based not-for-profit, community-based healthcare organization dedicated to improving care for individuals who are dually eligible for MassHealth (Medicaid) and Medicare with complex medical, behavioral health and social needs, including those with disabilities.