Residents Of Mass. Long-Term Care Facilities To Get Vaccine

The plan to give the coronavirus vaccine to all residents and workers in long-term care facilities in Massachusetts began on Monday.

A retired teacher who lives at the Benjamin Healthcare Center in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood was scheduled to be one of the first people to get the vaccine, according to the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

The nonprofit facility was founded in 1927.

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders has said about 115,000 long-term care residents and staff statewide need to be vaccinated.

Those receiving the vaccination from pharmacy companies CVS and Walgreens must give their consent first.

Older residents of long-term care facilities are at higher risk from the coronavirus. More than 60% of coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts have been in residents of such facilities, according to state health officials.