Southcoast Health vaccine clinic changing locations

Apr 30, 2022

Southcoast Health’s Covid-19 vaccine clinic will no longer operate at the old Vanity Fair, the nonprofit healthcare system announced Friday.

Beginning May 4, Dartmouth clinics will be conducted at the Nauset Building located at 49 State Road.

Final clinics were held at the Vanity Fair location on April 30.

The location change comes as virus transmission is on the rise across town. In the past week, the Massachusetts Department of Health reported that Dartmouth had 48 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

According to state data, Dartmouth had a daily average incidence rate of 15.2 per 100,000 people and a 4.7% positivity rate.

In the past two weeks, Dartmouth’s public schools reported 31 infections — 23 students and eight staff members.

Although the number of infections are on the rise, hospitalization remains relatively low. 

There are 37 people hospitalized in Bristol County’s five hospitals, with zero confirmed in any of the hospital’s Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit census, according to state data.

Meanwhile, Dartmouth’s vaccination rate has remained stagnant over the past couple of months.

As of April 28, 66% of Dartmouth residents had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine — the same rate since early February.

Nearly six in 10 residents are fully vaccinated, according to the state.

Patients can book their shots by signing up through their MyChart account or by visiting www.southcoast.org/covid-19-vaccine-scheduling.

People aged five or older who live, work or study in Massachusetts are eligible to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Those over the age of 18 can sign up to receive any vaccine, but those ages 5 to 17 can only get the Pfizer vaccine.

A special pediatric clinic will be held at the new State Road location on Tuesday, May 17 from 4 to 6 p.m. Only those who are ages 5 to 11 are eligible for the clinic.

Health officials recommend all Massachusetts residents 16 and up get their booster as soon as possible.

Residents are eligible to get a booster five months after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or two months after receiving the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control also recommends that certain immunocompromised individuals and everyone over age 50 get an additional booster dose. 

CDC recommendations allow for mixing and matching of different booster doses.