*VNR* Gloucester Police and Fire Chiefs Receive COVID-19 Vaccination

VNR Info:
The following video clips may be used freely by the news media:

• Media with additional questions may contact JGPR by calling 617-993-0003 or emailing info@jgpr.net.
• Gloucester Police Chief Edward Conley Receives Vaccination VO: click here. Video of Chief Conley receiving the vaccine and speaking to Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken afterward. 
• Gloucester Fire Chief Eric Smith Receives Vaccination VO: click here. Video of Chief Smith receiving the vaccine. 
• Gloucester Chief Edward Conley Vaccination SOT: click here. Chief Conley discusses his personal motivation for receiving the vaccine. 
• Gloucester Chief Eric Smith Vaccination SOT: click here. Chief Smith discusses his personal motivation for receiving the vaccine. 

All JGPR Video News Release footage can be viewed and downloaded on our Vimeo account by clicking here.

GLOUCESTER — Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, Public Health Director Karin Carroll, Police Chief Edward Conley and Fire Chief Eric Smith are pleased to announce that Chief Conley and Chief Smith received the first dose of the Moderna vaccination today.

Chief Conley and Chief Smith received the first dose of the vaccination ahead of a regional clinic that will be held in Gloucester next week to further distribute the vaccination to select area first responders. First responders recently became eligible to receive the vaccination through the state’s staggered vaccination distribution plan, which will release the vaccination to people through a list of groups ranked by priority. 

The community is reminded that the vaccine will not be available to the general public until April at the earliest through the state’s vaccination distribution plan. To learn more, click here. 

Chief Conley and Chief Smith each received their vaccination at about 4:15 p.m. on Thursday in Gloucester. 

“This is a historic moment for our City, and I am tremendously proud of Chief Conley and Chief Smith for their exemplary leadership throughout this pandemic,” Mayor Romeo Theken said. “It is a relief to know they will be vaccinated against this disease, and we look forward to facilitating the continued distribution of the vaccination in line with the state’s plan over the coming weeks and months.”

“This is a big deal. I think anything you can do to prevent COVID-19, wearing a mask, washing your hands, sanitizing, distancing…I think those are all steps that are important that we’re taking, but the vaccine is really the cure to the problem,” Fire Chief Smith said. “I think it’s critically important to move forward from this to get everybody a vaccine that we can.”

“I’d really like to thank Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken for her leadership and our Public Health Director Karin Carroll who has been the incident commander for this pandemic,” Chief Conley said. “I would also thank the Governor, Lt. Governor, and our local legislators including Sen. Bruce Tarr and Representative Ann Margaret Ferrante for all the work they’ve done to make sure Cape Ann received the vaccine in a timely fashion.”

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