News and Information on COVID-19

Natick, Massachusetts Mass Vaccination Site | Opening Remarks | Bill Haas, senior vice president, Northeast Division, Labcorp

Thank you for joining us today at our mass vaccination site here at the Natick Mall. I’m Bill Haas, senior vice president of the northeast division at Labcorp. We’re thrilled to be working across the commonwealth to make it easier for people to get tested and vaccinated, as we all work together to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

Two weeks ago there was nothing here and Labcorp went to work! The quick transformation of this old Sears store is a great example of how Labcorp works with federal, state, and local leaders across the country to develop thoughtful and creative solutions to expand access to testing and vaccinations. 

This week, we are vaccinating 100 people per day here in Natick, while we are getting 100s of our new nursing staff trained and ready Next week, we’ll ramp up to 500 people per day And by April, our goal is to be vaccinating up to 5,000 people per day, seven days a week.  

On behalf of over 70,000 Labcorp employees, I’d like to thank Governor Baker, Lieutenant Governor Polito and Secretary Sudders for being a part of this event. Also in attendance today are Representative Linsky and Senator Rausch- welcome. 

This Labcorp vaccination site would not have been possible without the support of 

• the Department of Health; 
• also our community partners at MetroWest, led by our good friends Ava Collins and Steve Baroletti, who are providing staff, vaccine-storage, and supplies; 
• a big thanks to our hundreds of Labcorp physician clients in the area who have helped us supply and recruit nursing staff, 
• and Brookfield Properties who provided us this space at the Natick Mall and much more. Joanne Kearney and team thank you 
• and our heroes, Natick Police and Fire as well as Brewster Ambulance. All 3 are supporting us with staff and on site emergency personnel, with a special shout out to Natick Police Chief Hicks, thank you.
• and, of course, the generous Massachusetts residents who have turned out to support us. 

It’s a true community effort, one we are honored to be a part of.

We are humbled to work with all of you and appreciate the opportunity to use our scientific and population health expertise to improve the health and improve the lives of the great people of Massachusetts. Together we will slow the spread of this virus!

It’s now my pleasure to introduce Governor Charlie Baker.