BERKSHIRE COUNTY, Mass. - When the Berkshires started seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases last month, the number of vaccine doses coming to the county's clinics dropped significantly.

State Rep. John Barrett (D- 1st Berkshire) said, "They were taking vaccines away from us and reducing our supply on a weekly basis, far reduced from what it was in the first month, and they were giving it to other areas of high population."

Barrett sent a letter to the state’s Secretary of Health and Human Services expressing concern about the seemingly related trends and he said it's already paid off, with the Berkshires getting more than 4,000 doses this week.

"The funny thing about it, we never got a response to our letter, no denial or anything," Barret said. "But come this week, we saw a substantial increase in the number of doses here."

While the increased supply helps make it easier to get appointments now, both state representative Smitty Pignatelli (D-4th Berkshire), who also signed on to the letter, and Barrett said they need to keep the pressure on to make sure it doesn't drop again.

Rep. Pignatelli said,"I got my appointment, my sister, I have neighbors that got their appointments, so it tells me that the doses were here."

"To use my favorite line, 'we'll be all over them like a cheap suit' if they don't recognize the fact that we're part of this state," Barrett said.

Pignatelli said it's critical to get people vaccinated as quickly as possible, so the county's tourist-driven economy can function somewhat normally this summer.

"The Berkshires cannot afford to lose another summer, and if we do what we need to do, I'm very bullish on the Berkshires," Pignatell said. "Tanglewood is doubling-down, Jacob's Pillow, they're all ready to go. Let's get open for business, but let's do it right."