Vaccines Reach Revere’s First Responders

The City of Revere joined Chelsea and Winthrop and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to hold a three-day COVID-19 vaccination clinic for 600 first responders at the Rumney Marsh Academy.

Police officers, firefighters, EMS professionals, 911 dispatchers, harbormasters, court officers, and FBI officers received vaccinations from medical personnel at the well-coordinated clinic that was held Friday and Saturday (the third day of the clinic is scheduled for Wednesday) and overseen by Lauren Buck, director of the Revere Health Department and Kim Hanton, chief of staff to Mayor Brian Arrigo. Cataldo Ambulance provided additional support to the medical teams.

Here we go! Fire Chief Chris Bright was the initial First Responder from Revere to get the
COVID-19 vaccine.
One down…Police Chief David Callahan shows his COVID-19 vaccine card and gives the
thumbs up with Dr. Nathalee Kong. He is scheduled to get his second dose next month.

Revere Fire Chief Christopher Bright and Police Chief David Callahan joined their officers and firefighters respectively in receiving the critical vaccines that are being administered nationwide as the one-year battle against the coronavirus continues.

“I think it’s a significant day,”said Chief Bright, who had 12 RFD firefighters test positive in the past two weeks. “I think it [the vaccine] offers a ray of hope and hopefully it’s the beginning of the end for this COVID-19 pandemic. Last year was a rough year and this year’s second wave appears to be even worse.

“I want to thank Lauren Buck, our public health director, all the nurses and doctors, Dr. Nathalee Kong – everyone who took the initiative to put this clinic together for the first responders of Revere, Chelsea, and Winthrop. They did some amazing work. We appreciate it and we’ll never forget it.”

 Callahan was very pleased to see the many first responders receiving their vaccinations.

“It’s a great day, it’s outstanding,” said Callahan. “I’m very fortunate to be able to receive this vaccine. The medical team that has been established here is outstanding, from Mass General, to the City of Revere, to the Town of Winthrop, to the City of Chelsea – everyone’s worked extremely well in a collaborative effort.”

Callahan said the Revere Police Department currently has multiple officers out after testing positive for COVID-19. “Fortunately, they’re home convalescing and they’re doing better. It just takes time and it’s kind of a cycle that’s been going through the department since the pandemic started.”

Lauren Buck said the vaccination clinics [held Friday and Saturday] went smoothly. She noted that the city, like many other Massachusetts communities, is in “a second surge” of COVID-19 cases.

“This is the first step in the process to get us out of the surge,” said Buck. “Today is the first step. We need to get all of our community vaccinated and we’re starting today.”

Kim Hanton shared her thoughts about the vaccination clinic in a Revere TV interview at Rumney Marsh Academy, the distribution site.

“Today is an historical and emotional day in the City of Revere,” said Hanton. “Here we stand at the Rumney Marsh Academy. I am so grateful and so thankful to the Emergency Response Team spearheaded by Mayor Arrigo during this journey.

I need to give a special shout-out to Adrienne Maguire who I called on the first day that this pandemic started to affect our community. Lauren Buck, the director of public health for the City of Revere, is a rock star. We are so very lucky in this city to be led by her. This is a regional effort (Revere, Winthrop, and Chelsea) to vaccinate our first responders and this could not happen without Lauren Buck,” concluded Hanton.

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