MBTA Plans Vaccine Site For Workers In Quincy

MBTA officials are tentatively aiming to launch a vaccination site for the transit agency's employees in mid-February, and they have already started encouraging workers to sign up before they gain eligibility.

The T will use a former Lowes building near its Quincy Adams station, which will eventually become a bus facility, to administer vaccines to employees once the Baker administration advances its rollout plan.

General Manager Steve Poftak told the agency's board Monday that the facility will have a target capacity of 200 doses per day before potentially scaling up. Officials will prioritize employees who interact directly with customers and those whose absences would most impact the system's operations to receive shots first, Poftak said.

The Baker administration placed transit workers in Phase 2, Group 3 — two steps from the current stage — alongside employees in early and K-12 education, grocery, utilities, food and agriculture, sanitation, public works and public health fields.

"The date and amount are still to be determined, but we want to be ready and have the capability in place to begin giving these out to our employees," Poftak said.

The MBTA is allowing and encouraging workers and T contractors to pre-register for vaccines online. Through Thursday afternoon, about 3,600 people had filled out the early registration forms.

Poftak said pre-registration will allow agency leaders to get a better sense of demand for vaccines within the T and also develop "on-call" plans for how to use any leftover doses on a given day once vaccinations start.