Vaccines in the arms of first responders beginning January 11th

Protection for police, firefighters, and other first responders begin next Monday in Massachusetts according to a post at masslive.com. According to masslive.com Governor Charlie Baker made the scheduling announcement today.

This is all part of Phase 1 of the vaccine rollout in Massachusetts. Starting Monday January 11th, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel and other first responders in Massachusetts will be eligible for the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Charlie Baker said on Monday.

First responders will have a number of options on where get their first round of the vaccine. Some will get vaccinated on-site, at one of 60 community health centers and other medical locations. Over 600 public safety officials met with Health and Human Services Secretary, Marylou Sudders last week to discuss plans.

First responders continue to put their own safety at risk with every shift as the numbers continue to rise across the country, the state and locally. In mass an additional 3,110 new cases were reported yesterday with 105 deaths reported to be connected to COVID-19. WUPE reported this morning that 6 deaths were reported in Berkshire County yesterday. That adds to total 144 lives lost due to the virus locally. The COVID-19 case-count rose by 38, bringing the COVID-19 cases in the Berkshires to a total of 3,020. In Massachusetts the coronavirus case total to 12,341.

Coming off of the Christmas and New Year's holiday the spread is expected to continue to climb.