Some hospitals offered high-risk groups early access to Covid vaccine

Some hospitals in Massachusetts received special state approval to vaccinate certain high-risk groups, such as organ transplant recipients and patients undergoing cancer treatments, ahead of the state’s phased approach. The high-risk groups differed by hospital, and not every hospital received the guidance to vaccinate some patients early. Indeed, some hospitals appear to have received special permission, while others did not, and in some cases, the hospitals were contacted by the state, while in others, the hospital had to initiate the process to ask for permission to vaccinate specific groups. Spokespeople with the state’s coronavirus task force did not respond to a request for comment to explain the process.