Baker Forms Vaccine Advisory Group To Prepare For Distribution

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration announced the formation of an advisory group Wednesday to help the state prepare to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as one becomes available.

The group includes medical professionals, public health experts, elected officials, community leaders and infectious disease specialists.

The group’s main task will be to advise the administration — including the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the COVID-19 Command Center — on communication, distribution, and equity issues relating to a COVID-19 vaccine.

The state has actively been working on planning for a COVID-19 vaccine since early August, according to a press release from the administration.

The work of the advisory group builds on the state’s experience in distributing approximately 3 million vaccine doses each year and will help strengthen efforts to equitably allocate, distribute and administer a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.

The Department of Public Health is currently adding another 1,000 clinical sites to 3,000 sites already on the state’s vaccine registry to help streamline the distribution and tracking of the vaccine.