Nearly 40 supermarkets in Massachusetts are working with the state to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine to their pharmacy starting next week.
Wegmans is one of many supermarkets participating in the introduction of new vaccines. The supermarket chain will also work with officials in New York and Pennsylvania to administer vaccines.
According to Baker’s government, the state will also partner with supermarket chains Big Y, Price Chopper, Stop & Shop and Hannaford to provide approximately vaccination sites starting Monday.
The increase in vaccination sites comes after the discovery of nearly 2,000 tainted coronavirus vaccine doses at the Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center in Boston after the refrigerator in which they were stored was accidentally disconnected.
People in Boston responded to the loss of nearly 2,000 COVID-19 vaccines at the VA Medical Center in Jamaica Plain.
This is because more and more states say the vaccines are running out. Many also claim that they didn’t have enough doses to begin with.
Anna Nagurney, professor of operations management at UMass Amherst who is an expert in supply chains, called the loss of 1,900 vaccine doses at the VA facility “inexcusable.”
Biden’s government is setting a new target for vaccine distribution as states face shortages and new strains of the COVID-19 virus emerge.
“You can’t let that happen,” said Nagurney. “We need better security, we need better quality control, we shouldn’t have someone unplug the refrigerator, that’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Supplemental doses are on the way, and VA officials say there should be no disruption to the Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center’s vaccination efforts.