Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative Launches Website

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative has announced the launch of a new website containing comprehensive information on how to access the Berkshire area COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

The new site, www.getvaccinatedberkshires.org, was developed to provide a consolidated resource with information about the COVID-19 vaccines, to provide resources on the state's Vaccination Phases and vaccine availability, and to aid the public in making appointments at the three large mass vaccination clinic sites in the Berkshires.

The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative has established vaccination sites in Pittsfield at the Berkshire Community College Field House, in Great Barrington at the WEB Du Bois Middle School and in North Adams at St. Elizabeth of Hungary's Parish Center. Vaccine clinics are now scheduled for early February to begin vaccinations for the first part of Phase 2, which includes anyone aged 75 and older.

The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative estimates that there are approximately 18,000 Berkshire residents who are 75 and older, and based on the current distribution of vaccine by the State of Massachusetts, it is likely to take several weeks before completion of Phase 2-A. Clinics will be held weekly based on availability of the vaccine from the Commonwealth.

The website will be updated regularly as more clinics are scheduled throughout February and the coming months and as the state continues to move through Phase 2 and into Phase 3, which is estimated to run through the remainder of winter and into the spring.

The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative is a partnership between Berkshire Health Systems, Community Health Programs, the Berkshire County Boards of Health Association and public health nurses.

The website is www.getvaccinatedberkshires.org.

 


Tags: BHS,   CHP,   COVID-19,   


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Access Stairs Planned at Pontoosuc Lake

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is planning to enhance access to Pontoosuc Lake's south shoreline with a staircase from the boardwalk and a couple of stair sets to the water. 

Last week, the Conservation Commission was updated on work on the park's southern section off Hancock Road, which last year saw a new boardwalk and access stairs from the parking lot. 

Pittsfield plans to build a set of stairs from the end of the boardwalk to the grassy area near the shoreline and is seeking additional feet of bank stabilization. The city's request for an amendment to the project's order of conditions was continued to July 23, as there were some explanatory presentation slides missing. 

"I've already got permissions from the original notice of intent, orders of condition, to bring a stair set off of the boardwalk down to this grassy area," Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath told the commission. 

"So, when you're on the boardwalk, if you want to utilize this stair set, which we're proposing, you come down the boardwalk stair set, onto the grass, over to the bank, into the water." 

Two sets of stairs are proposed for shoreline access, supported by $12,000 in Community Preservation Act funds, along with additional feet of bank stabilization. 

Last year, community members argued that erosion control plantings impeded access at Pontoosuc Lake; four easy access points were proposed, and a site visit with the Conservation Commission revealed that some of the bank erosion was worse than they believed. 

Stairs were then proposed for that area instead. They will be about 3 1/2 feet wide. 

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