Boston Globe: ‘Bringing the treatment to where they are.’ Mobile health vans have boomed since the pandemic.

By 9:30 a.m. on a recent Friday morning, a line of people stretched for more than a block under the Adamski Memorial Highway in Chelsea.

They were waiting for a bi-weekly food pantry program run by La Colaborativa, a local organization focused on empowering Latino immigrants. But some stayed longer to visit a blue van parked next to the heaps of produce and canned goods.

Inside, visitors receive free COVID or flu shots, have their blood pressure checked, get a referral for programs that treat substance abuse use disorders and receive health information in nearly a dozen languages.