State expands role of UMass vaccination site Stickers on hand at the Bangs Community Center in Amherst, where first responders were receiving their first COVID-19 vaccinations on Jan. 12. STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN GUTTING Published: 1/24/2021 3:01:16 PM AMHERST — As Fenway Park in Boston joins Gillette Stadium in Foxborough as a mass vaccination site, the University of Massachusetts Amherst will expand its role in administering COVID-19 vaccines in Western Massachusetts. The Baker-Polito Administration announced last week that the UMass site, at the Campus Center, will provide vaccinations for all eligible groups in Phase 1 of the state’s vaccine distribution plan. The site has been for first responders only since opening on Jan. 11. Now, congregate care and shelter staff, as well as clinical and non-clinical health care workers doing direct and COVID-facing care, and personnel from long-term care facilities, rest homes and assisted living facilities, can be served there.