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‘There are so many supply chain issues’: Some Massachusetts hospitals are borrowing ultra-cold freezers; others say they don’t need them
Updated Dec 22, 2020;
Posted Dec 22, 2020
Boston Medical Center made history Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, when it became the first hospital in Massachusetts to receive a shipment of nearly 2,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. (Adam Knee/Boston Medical Center)
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With now two coronavirus vaccines en route to Massachusetts, a number of state hospitals still don’t have ultra-cold freezers needed to store the Pfizer/BioNTech immunizations, prompting some to borrow storage units from neighboring facilities.
In Western Massachusetts, Berkshire Medical Center has already borrowed two of the ultra-cold freezers while staff wait for an order of storage supplies to arrive.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. Berkshire Medical Center was prepared Monday for the first delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19. The vaccine, given emergency authorization for use last week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, must be kept at super cold temperatures of at least minus-70 degree Celsius. It s being distributed in a packaging the so-called pizza box that will allow doses to be kept cold with dry ice for at least a few weeks. But it s easier to use an ultra-cold freezer, which arrived at BMC on Wednesday from the Berkshire Innovation Center. We are deeply grateful to the Berkshire Innovation Center and its staff for helping Berkshire Health Systems in its efforts to effectively distribute the COVID-10 vaccine, Director of Media Relations Michael Leary wrote in an email.
Many didnât have a freezer capable of keeping the vaccine that cold.
And that set off a scramble by some hospitals, including Berkshire Medical Center, to purchase the necessary ultracold freezer.
âThey are very difficult to find,â said spokesperson Michael Leary. âEspecially right now.â
Then, the head of Pittsfieldâs Berkshire Innovation Center happened to see a TV report about how a shortage of freezers could hinder vaccine distribution.
âAnd I turned to my wife and said, âWe have one of those!â â said Ben Sosne, the centerâs executive director. BIC had installed an ultracold freezer in its laboratory space just before opening in February, and the $15,000-machine was sitting unused because of the pandemic.
State awards $1.6M in grants for technical skills programs in Western Massachusetts
Updated Dec 10, 2020;
SPRINGFIELD Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday announced $11.7 million in vocational skills grants for educational institutions statewide, including approximately $1.6 million for programs in Western Massachusetts.
The grants include $300,000 for the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department for inmate training and $250,000 for the Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy in Springfield.
The grants are intended to help update equipment and expand student enrollment in programs that provide career education, according to an announcement from the governor’s office.
“At a critical time in our Commonwealth, these Skills Capital Grants will increase flexibility and support for schools and educational institutions to launch new programs and help more students develop important technical skills and prepare them for high-demand industries,” Baker said. “As our economy moves f