Last updated on January 2, 2022
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the hours-long wait for people to get tested at the Anna Cole Community Center was “completely unacceptable” on Sunday night.
Wu was responding to a tweet by Heshan Berents-Weeramumi, who was standing in line at 11:50 am when he was at the edge of the Stop & Shop Supermarket up Centre Street, past the Mildred Hailey Apartments, and past the Jackson Square MBTA stop.
This is completely unacceptable. The team & I are huddling tomorrow right after inauguration to set immediate next steps for expanding testing & improving the experience at each site—will report back! https://t.co/R22L43jg59
— Michelle Wu 吳弭 (@wutrain) January 3, 2022
Berents-Weeramumi was tweeting his frustration at Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, detailing his wait as he slowly progressed in line, and later tweeted at 3:13 pm that he had finally made it out of the testing site.
Update: The line of people still waiting as I got out, though the site was supposed to close at 3pm. @MassGovernor, heck of a job, Brownie. #mapoli pic.twitter.com/CzN35nReJP
— Heshan de Silva-Weeramuni — Bluesky: @heshan🗳️ (@wheresmyporsche) January 2, 2022
Wu said that she would huddle with her team right after the Boston City Council inauguration on Monday morning to expand testing and improve the experience at each site.
The Mayor’s Press Office told Jamaica Plain News last week that the city would be expanding testing sites in the city, but did not say they would increase the operation hours for the Cole Center.
