AGAWAM – There appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Cecilia Calabrese, the president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) and vice president of the Agawam City Council, by the end of the second quarter of 2021, the Intergovernmental COVID-19 Task Force expects that anyone that wants the vaccine, can get one free of charge.

Calabrese, who has been doing work with the federal task force since January, also said that the Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines are in the final stage three of their clinical trials.

In collaboration with William Crozier, who is in charge of intergovernmental affairs as part of the White House cabinet, Calabrese and other task force members have been conducting phone calls since January.

“We have been doing phone calls all year for state, local, and tribal leaders to keep everyone in the loop as far as what was going on with the COVID response,” said Calabrese.

Part of the federal response involved “Operation Warp Speed,” which is the initiative from the U.S. government that allows accelerated production and distribution of over 300 million doses of “safe and effective vaccines.” Calabrese was one of 50 people from the task force invited to the White House for President Trump’s executive signing of this operation.

Calabrese was allowed to be a part of the task force because of her work with the MMA. The non-partisan organization is an advocacy group that looks out for local concerns in the commonwealth.

“We look to see what legislation is coming up on Beacon Hill, and we will pick three to five issues that will impact local government,” said Calabrese.

The goal is to get all of the cities and towns in the state to rally around a piece of legislation or an initiative that benefits everyone. By virtue of being on the Agawam City Council, Calabrese was able to work her way up all the way to president of the MMA.

“When the White House was looking to put together this task force, they were looking to see who has their finger on the pulse of local policy,” said Calabrese. “And they kind of found me.”

Among the attendees at the Operation Warp Speed were Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, and a multitude of state governors, according to Calabrese.

“My husband and I were both invited to go,” said Calabrese. ”Which was very special for the two of us to be able to share that experience together.”

While there, Calabrese and company were able to get a tour of the Christmas decorations at the White House.

“I felt like I was a little kid, because I always wanted to see the White House at Christmas,” said Calabrese.

According to Calabrese, the White House was “very cautious” when it came to security and social distancing. It was about a two-hour process between going through security and actually walking through the tour, said Calabrese. Once that was done, everyone had to take a particular route to the actual COVID-19 vaccine summit at the Eisenhower building, where more distancing guidelines were followed.

“It was a hearty 48 hours,” said Calabrese. “It’s one of those situations where, you get invited to the White House, you don’t say no to that.”