Westport firefighters are now bringing Covid-19 vaccines to homebound residents of town, the department announced Friday.

The department said:

"It has been nearly a year since Westport’s firefighter/paramedics began providing Advanced Life Support treatment in the back of our ambulances to those residents infected with the Covid-19 virus, and now we have begun to battle the virus in a different way. 

"Teaming up with the Board of Health and the Council on Aging, we have begun to administer vaccinations to both home bound residents and seniors over the age of 75. Despite the somewhat challenging roll-out of the vaccination process, with respect to scheduling and obtaining enough vaccine, the departments have stepped up and week one was a success. 

"Thirty homebound residents were vaccinated by the department’s paramedic’s and another 175 were vaccinated at a clinic held at the Westport Council on Aging administered by the department’s paramedics and the Town Nurse.

"The homebound vaccinations require the paramedic to stand by with the patient for 15-30 minutes following the vaccine administration, to monitor for any signs of an allergic reaction. While necessary, this process limits the number of homebound vaccinations we can administer per day due to the time involved per administration. However, we are confident that as more vaccines become available, we will be able to adjust accordingly and increase the amount of vaccination’s we are able to administer on a weekly basis.

"Over the last several decades, the role of the firefighter/paramedic within the fire service has changed immensely. This is another example of the services your firefighter/paramedics are able to bring to you, and we are proud to be able to help out during this challenging time. We thank all town departments for their efforts in getting this pandemic under control, so we can all return to a sense of normalcy."

For more information regarding vaccine clinics, visit the town’s website at www.westport-ma.com, contact the BOH at 508.636.1015 or the Council on Aging at 508.636.1026.