WESTFIELD – The city of Westfield has a new CVS COVID-19 vaccine site after local and state officials lobbied to bring doses closer to Westfield residents.

Health Director Joseph Rouse said last week that the corporate offices of CVS had committed to putting a vaccine site in Westfield. Those who seek to be vaccinated can now attempt to schedule an appointment at the 427 East Main St. location, though as of the morning of March 21, all available appointments had been fully booked.

New appointments will be made available each week as new vaccine supplies are distributed.

Rouse said that Mayor Donald F. Humason Jr., state Rep. Kelly Pease, and state Sen. John C. Velis helped to lobby for the Westfield location.

"[CVS] takes a lot of guidance from the state even though they are federally supplied for the vaccine,” said Rouse.

There had been an effort to get a vaccine site in Westfield for months. Residents in Westfield and several other surrounding communities have complained of a lack of vaccine sites on the West side of the Connecticut River. The closest mass vaccination site is the Eastfield Mall in Springfield.

In a statement to Reminder Publishing, Velis said that he had been advocating with the state’s COVID Command Center to expand both local and regional vaccine sites.

“I partnered with Mayor Humason and Representative Pease to aggressively lobby with CVS Pharmacy officials and I am glad to announce that vaccine appointments will be available at the East Main Street CVS Pharmacy in Westfield,” said Velis.

There had been an effort to establish a mass vaccination site on the grounds of the Big E in West Springfield. Officials from Westfield Southwick, Agawam, West Springfield and other nearby municipalities had attempted to collaborate on the effort, but the state determined that a site at the Big E would be too close to the site at the Eastfield Mall.

“While being able to pre-register for mass vaccination sites like the Eastfield Mall is great, many residents in our community don’t have the transportation to get there and I am glad that there is now a CVS Pharmacy location here in Westfield,” said Velis, “As our supply expands, I will continue to advocate for more local and regional sites, so we can get the vaccine to those in our communities who need it most.”

Pease said in a statement that he and others would continue to advocate for more vaccine locations in Westfield, and that he is optimistic that vaccine availability will soon increase significantly.

“I am optimistic that with both Moderna and Pfizer planning to nearly double their output by April and with the Johnson & Johnson Company’s Collaboration with Merck, that the availability of the vaccine will start to take off by April,” said Pease, “With all the increase in vaccine production, I believe that more sites will be opened in April to better accommodate local communities like ours. I cannot make any promises, but you can rest assure that I will do everything I can to have our city get the attention we deserve for increasing local options.”