Peabody Essex Museum to expand hours, hold vaccine clinics

BOSTON (AP) — The Peabody Essex Museum is offering vaccination clinics and expanding its hours as the coronavirus pandemic eases in Massachusetts, museum officials announced Tuesday.

The new expanded hours kick off on Friday, when the Salem museum holds the first of several vaccination clinics.

The clinics, in partnership with Curative, will offer Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson shots at no cost on Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m. through Aug. 13.

Visitors who get a shot also get free admission and will be entered into the state’s vaccine lottery with a chance to win either $1 million or a $300,000 college scholarship.

The museum has also lifted its mask mandate for staff and visitors in accordance with public health recommendations and will soon resume historic house and gallery tours. Enhanced sanitation and disinfection efforts will continue.

The museum closed in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic and reopened with limited hours last summer.

“We have much in store this summer with hybrid virtual and live programs, new exhibitions, and a renewed sense of gratitude for being able to celebrate creativity and connection,” Robert Monk, the museum’s interim chief operating officer, said in a statement.