LOWELL — Lowell General Hospital will close its Mass Vaccination Program at the Cross River Center June 15 and move all coronavirus vaccination operations to its Saints campus, hospital officials said in a Wednesday announcement to community partners.
“Together, we have made great strides in vaccinating our community and putting the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us,” Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Amy Hoey and Director of Infection Prevention and Occupation Health Michelle Hanley said in the announcement. “To date, Lowell General Hospital’s Mass Vaccination Program has administered more than 140,000 doses of the vaccine, including thousands to members of our community who faced barriers to accessing an appointment.”
As the demand for a large-scale mass vaccination program decreases locally, they wrote, the hospital plans to move COVID-19 vaccinations to become part of routine hospital operations.
June 15 is the last day the MVP site will operate, with all scheduled appointments to be held in the morning hours, according to the announcement. Vaccinations will move to the Chest and Immunization Center on the fourth floor of the Saints campus beginning June 22.
“Our Chest and Immunization team is highly skilled in providing vaccinations of many types as part of its daily work. And many of the team members have provided vital support at the MVP over the course of the past several months, which will allow them to bring our best practices to their center moving forward,” Hoey and Hanley wrote. “We are working through the transition process with the Chest and Immunization Center team and the MVP team leads to ensure a smooth transition.”
Patients who receive a first vaccine dose at the MVP site between June 1 and June 15 will be notified they will get their second dose at the Saints campus.
For now, community members can continue to schedule appointments at lowellgeneralvaccine.com, but in the coming weeks, all vaccination appointment scheduling will migrate to the hospital’s central scheduling phone line.
The state Department of Public Health also announced Thursday, as it focuses on targeted outreach to unvaccinated residents, all seven of the state’s high-volume mass vaccination sites will close by mid-July.
More than 3.7 million people in Massachusetts have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and nearly 4.5 million people have received at least one shot.
The strategy of using mass vaccination sites to deliver shots to residents in the early stages of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination was central to the administration’s strategy, but was questioned at times by lawmakers and others over why Gov. Charlie Baker chose to prioritize limited doses for these sites.
The administration said Thursday that Gillette Stadium, which was the first mass vaccination site to open, will also be the first to close on June 14. The Foxboro stadium will be followed by the Hynes Convention Center on June 22, the Natick Mall on June 23, the Reggie Lewis Center on June 27, The Doubletree Hotel in Danvers on June 30 and the Eastfield Mall in Springfield on July 6.
The site at the former Circuit City in Dartmouth is scheduled to be the last mass vaccination to close on July 13.
A month ago Baker announced plans to close four of the seven high-volume vaccine sites — Gillette Stadium, Hynes Convention Center, Natick Mall and Danvers Doubletree — by the end of June.
The administration said Thursday that CIC Health and Curative, which has operated the sites for Massachusetts, will continue to support community mobile vaccination efforts, including on-site employer and school clinics.
More than 1.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered at the seven sites since Gillette first opened Jan. 18 for first responders and health care workers to begin to be vaccinated.
State House News Service contributed to this report.
