In the last six months, Chelsea has officially transformed from the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts to a leader in vaccination rates statewide. Among the 20 cities targeted by the Vaccine Equity Initiative, Chelsea ranks #1, outpacing vaccination rates of other cities and the statewide average.
As of September 28, 72.8% of Chelsea residents were fully vaccinated and 84.5% had received their first dose. Our youth have helped pave the way, with 93% of youth ages 12-15 and 99% of those ages 16-19 having received at least one dose. Statewide, only 66.4% of residents are fully vaccinated and 73.5% have received their first dose.
La Colaborativa is proud to have played a role in this achievement for our people! Vaccination is one of our best strategies for getting our community back to work and on stable ground in pandemic recovery efforts.
To make this happen, we knocked on 20,000+ doors, we brought mobile vaccination clinics to our food pantry, and we opened our doors this spring to our partners at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center to set up a community-based vaccination site. We danced on TikTok, we got our young people involved, and we fought against misinformation and fear. Our success lies in our relationships with residents – the fact that we were out knocking on doors, having conversations, and asking people how they were doing and what they needed long before and throughout the pandemic.
Thank you to all our partners who have helped Chelsea reach this milestone, including the CDC Foundation, City of Chelsea, Eastern Bank, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Tufts Health Plan Foundation.
