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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Healey Gives Municipalities Say on Data Centers, Pittsfield Eyes Moratorium

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Last week, Governor Maura Healey signed an executive order that gives municipalities the power to say 'no' to data centers. 

Pittsfield is drafting a moratorium that bans the facilities until more research can be done.  Holyoke became the first in Massachusetts to ban new data centers in July. 

Healey, during a press conference at the State House on Tuesday, Sept. 8, announced that if a data center proposal doesn't have local approval, state permitting agencies will not advance it.  

"Unless a community says yes to a data center, we are saying no," she said. "We're giving communities a voice and laying out the rules for what needs to happen in Massachusetts. I'm also making sure these data centers use clean energy, and that we protect people from higher energy costs – including by returning money directly back to ratepayers."

The city's Community Development Board has agreed to go forward with a data center moratorium.  City Planner Kevin Rayner told the board in July that he has been working with the city solicitor on a proposed document, which said Pittsfield could allow a data center if it is proven self-sufficient with its own power source. 

Rayner is skeptical of the facilities' power and water usage, as well as heat generation. 

"In my opinion, the smart way to go is just to put a wall, moratorium, up and think about it," he said during the board's meeting on July 7. "We can always take the wall down."

Board member Gary Levante agreed. 

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