Nearly 40 supermarkets across Massachusetts are partnering with the state to deliver COVID-19 vaccine at their pharmacies starting next week.
Wegmans is one of the many supermarkets participating in the new vaccine rollout effort. The supermarket chain will also be working with officials in New York and Pennsylvania to administer vaccines.
The state will also partner will grocery chains Big Y, Price Chopper, Stop & Shop and Hannaford to provide approximately vaccination sites starting Monday, according to the Baker administration said.
The ramp up of vaccination sites comes after the discovery of nearly 2,000 spoiled coronavirus vaccine doses at the Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center in Boston after the refrigerator they were being stored in was accidentally unplugged.
This comes as more and more states say they are running out of vaccines. Many are also claiming they did not have an adequate number of doses to begin with.
Anna Nagurney, a professor of operations management at UMass Amherst, who is an expert in supply chains, called the loss of 1,900 vaccine doses at the VA facility "unforgiveable."
"You can't have that happen," said Nagurney. "We need better security, we need better quality control, it can't be a matter of someone unplugging the refrigerators, that's absolutely ridiculous."
Replenishment doses are on their way and there should not be a distruption to the Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center's vaccination efforts, according to VA officials.
