Getting Your COVID-19 Vaccination? Here’s a Delicious, Post-Shot Treat near Each Site

If you’ve ever donated blood, you’ve probably been handed a post-needle cookie to replenish your blood sugar levels. What a treat! (It takes so little to please, when you’ve just been stabbed with a syringe.) Granted, you don’t need a similarly sweet treat once you’ve received your COVID-19 vaccination, but after waiting a year for protection—and the promise of a return to better, pandemic-free days ahead—you do deserve to celebrate. And so, now that immunization sites are rolling out across the city, we’ve mapped out the closest place to each location that is currently open to all eligible Boston residents. (We’re excluding pharmacies and existing patient-only facilities for this because, well, that would be a very long list.) No matter what neighborhood you need to get to, there’s a shot (yay!) and a sweet (yum!) waiting for you.

Chocolate chip cookie at Blunch. / Photo by Kiki Larouge Photography

South End: Chocolate chip cookie at Blunch

Chef-owner Nikki Christo Leo’s pint-sized street-corner spot is hands-down one of the best lil’ daytime cafes in the city, somewhere that neighbors in surrounding South End brownstones can snag amazing, inventive egg sandwiches to fuel their work-from-home days and Boston Medical Center staff can run for a quick bite on their break. After your appointment, scoop up the chocolate chip cookies—legendary, chunk-filled treats with just the right balance of crunch and chew. They’re totally outstanding. Nearby vaccination site: Boston Medical Center.

59 E Springfield St., Boston, 617-247-8100, eatblunch.com.

Roslindale: Mini pies at Fornax Bread Company

It’s worth taking home some breads and baguettes from this lovely, longtime bakery in Roslindale Village; they’ll do wonders to enliven those sandwiches you slap together to scarf between Zoom calls. When you’re leaving the neighboring vax site on Corinth Street, though, you ought to scoop up some three-inch mini pies in apple, blueberry, and other fruity flavors. On second thought, at only a few bucks apiece, grab a couple (and mini cupcakes, too)—it’s a personal health holiday, after all! Nearby vaccination site: Roslindale Vaccination Site at 17 Corinth St.

27 Corinth St., Boston, 617-325-8852, fornaxbread.com.

Ali’s Roti. / Photo by Nina Gallant for “Best of Boston 2020“

Dorchester or Mattapan: Roti at Ali’s Roti

After getting a shot in the arm, your brain might first start thinking about sweet desserts as a reward. Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of those coming up—but a small triangle of vaccination sites in Dorchester and Mattapan all happen to meet around Ali’s Roti, and we’d be remiss to not send you to one of the best neighborhood-takeout joints in the city. The spicy and succulent stewed meats, including chicken, goat, and lamb, are nestled with curried chickpeas and cabbage in a house-made Trinidadian wrap, and it’s a hearty meal full of the kind of vibrant flavor that’ll take your mind off any lingering pain from the pinch. Nearby vaccination sites: Russell Auditorium and Dorchester VFW Post 1018 in Dorchester; Morning Star Baptist Church in Mattapan.

1188 Blue Hill Ave., Boston, 617-298-9850. 

Biden- and Harris-inspired ice cream flavors at J.P. Licks. / Photo courtesy

South Boston: Biden- and Harris-inspired ice creams at J.P. Licks

According to the latest projections, the Biden administration is set to exceed goals to deliver 100 million vaccines in the president’s first 100 days in office. A pretty good improvement over [checks notes] weird promises of bleach injections. Celebrate competency by raising delicious scoops of ice cream from J.P. Licks, which is rolling out two new flavors on President’s Day: the Regular Cup of Joe, a cream- and sugar-spiked coffee flavor inspired by Biden, and Kamala’s Karamel, a sea salted caramel treat with chocolate-covered caramel pieces that honors Madame VP. They’re available at all locations, and luckily one is right next door to a vaccination site in Southie. Nearby vaccination site: South Boston Community Health Center.

397 W Broadway, Boston, 857-496-7095, jplicks.com.

East Boston: Chicken parmesan sub at Meridian Food Market

It was a long year of waiting for this moment, and now that you’ve finally scored your first (or second!) dose of pandemic protection, the desire to crash into a face-full of comfort food is probably strong. Once you’ve wrapped your appointment in Eastie, mosey over to nearby Meridian, a family-run Italian market that serves one of the best chicken parmesan subs in all of Boston. The mozzarella-covered monster is a thing of local legend, and take note: The chicken parm is no joke in calzone form, either. Nearby vaccination site: East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.

121 Meridian St., Boston, 617-567-9725, meridianfoodmarket.com.

Mission Hill: Warm skillet cookie at Milkweed

When you get vax’d at the Roxbury Crossing site, you’ll be just steps away from Mike’s Donuts, a 1969 neighborhood institution that is one of the best shops in the city to find fried rings o’ dough covered in sweet, sprinkle-covered frosting. Doughnuts are an ordinary-day treat, though (if you’re doing life right), and today merits something even more indulgent: A warm, skillet-baked chocolate chip cookie at Milkweed, a morning-through-night Mission Hill gem. It’s topped with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and powdered sugar, and you deserve every decadent bite. Nearby vaccination site: Reggie Lewis Center.

1508 Tremont St., Boston, 617-516-8913, eatatmilkweed.com.

Nutter Butter at Sweet Cheeks. / Photo by JM Leach

Fenway: Nutter butter at Sweet Cheeks Q

Ooh, heaven is a place on earth—specifically, Sweet Cheeks Q, star chef Tiffani Faison’s stellar barbecue destination near the humble ballpark-turned-mass vaccination site that is Fenway. We wouldn’t blame you for loading up a tray of pulled pork, brisket, mac ‘n’ cheese, and more after your injection, but you definitely have permission to skip to one of the city’s best desserts: A giant nutter butter from Best of Boston-winning pastry chef Dee Steffen Chinn. The peanut butter filled cookie sandwiches is the size of a small frisbee, so you can nibble on its divine deliciousness all afternoon long. #Blessed. Nearby vaccination site: Fenway Park.

1381 Boylston St., Boston, 617-266-1300, sweetcheeksq.com.

Hyde Park: Oreo cake batter ice cream at Ron’s Gourmet Ice Cream & Bowling

To be honest, you can’t go wrong with any of the three-dozen flavors at this under-the-radar ice cream parlor (and 10-lane bowling alley!) offers at any one time. After your vaccination shot, though, the Oreo cake batter might be just what the doctor ordered: The vanilla ice cream is filled with cookie chunks and colorful sprinkles, a trifecta of childhood-invoking elements. (Peanut Butter Explosion, cookie dough, and plenty of other flavors will do just fine, though.) And as long as your arm isn’t too sore, you can always treat yourself to some retro-style candlepin bowling too, now that reservable lanes are back open as regulations relax.

1231 Hyde Park Ave., Boston, 617-364-5274, ronsicecream.com.