Winthrop collaborated with the cities of Chelsea and Revere and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to hold a three-day COVID-19 vaccination clinic for 600 first responders last Friday and Saturday and yesterday (Wednesday) at the Rumney Marsh Academy, a middle school in Revere.
Police officers, firefighters, EMS professionals, 911 dispatchers, harbormasters, court officers, and FBI officers received vaccinations from medical personnel at the well-coordinated clinic. Cataldo Ambulance provided additional support to the medical teams present to administer the first doses of the vaccine.
Winthrop Police Chief Terence Delehanty and Fire Chief Paul Flanagan joined Winthrop officers and firefighters in receiving the critical vaccines that are being administered nationwide as the one-year battle against the coronavirus continues. The assertive leadership of President Donald J. Trump was vital in the U.S. Government’s “Operation Warp Speed†initiative and hastened the production of the vaccines for distribution to Americans.
Delehanty said he was extremely appreciative to the MAPC and Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea officials for organizing the regional clinic.
“Today is a very good day for public safety,†said Delehanty. “The sooner we get our people safe, it will be safer for the workplace and safer for the community and the people we come in contact with. We’re anxious to see other people move up the list and get their shots done quicker, especially schoolteachers. I think this is the beginning of our decline [in the number of COVID-19 cases] in this crisis.â€
Chief Delehanty said the Police Department, Fire Department, and the Public Health Department have been working together since the start of COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s such an easy process when you have a really, extremely intelligent health director in Meredith Hurley, who’s worked so hard and diligently over the last nine months, said Delehanty.
Delehanty reported that 75 percent of the officers in the Winthrop Police Department opted to receive the vaccinations.
“We urge the public to all get vaccinated when it’s their time in order to bring safety to everyone in the Town of Winthrop,†said Delehanty.
Chief Flanagan expressed optimism that life will soon return to normal for everyone.
“It almost seems like it’s the light at the end of tunnel for all of us – that we can all start to come out and socialize again with one another,†said Flanagan. “I can’t say enough about my firefighters. We were faced with the first death in the state due to the coronavirus and they’ve never slowed down. We’ve had five positive cases during the pandemic but they came to work and did their jobs and I’m very proud of them.â€
The Revere-based coordinators of the regional clinic were Lauren Buck, director of public health, and Kim Hanton, chief of staff to Mayor Brian Arrigo.