DMin Student Quoted in Boston Globe Article on Vaccine Rollout Inequities in MA
The following is an excerpt from the Boston Globe article “‘There are a lot of people who can’t get to Fenway or Gillette’: Some residents feel overlooked in vaccine rollout,” by Boston Globe staff member Kay Lazar, published February 14, 2021. It features a quote from current School of Theology Doctor of Ministry student Dennis Heaphy. His scholarly focus is working toward improving chaplaincy care for people with disabilities.
Thousands who can’t easily leave home struggle to get their shots
Roughly 15,000 Massachusetts residents are receiving vaccines in their federally funded senior housing developments under the same federal–pharmacy partnership that sent vaccination teams to the state’s nursing homes. They became eligible weeks before thousands more in state-funded senior developments, who won’t get their turn until later this month or early March.
Elissa Sherman, president of LeadingAge, which represents nonprofit nursing homes and other senior living centers, said advocates worked with the Baker administration to ensure the state signed up for the early access for seniors in federally funded housing.
“I know the Baker administration is trying to create opportunities for onsite clinics so people don’t have to leave the community they are living in, so I have been pleased to see that,” Sherman said.
Among those who will receive an early dose is Dennis Heaphy, 59, a quadriplegic who lives in Symphony Towers, a federally funded senior housing development in Boston. Heaphy is scheduled to get his shot Feb. 20. He is relieved, but frustrated because he said other homebound seniors and disabled residents who don’t live in senior housing are being overlooked — especially those in communities of color. Heaphy is a health justice policy analyst for the Disability Policy Consortium.
“A lot of people with complex medical conditions don’t get out in the winter,” he said.