Live updates: The latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic in Mass.
Access last week’s coronavirus updates here.
Mass. extends deadline for student flu vaccine requirement (Dec. 23)
The deadline for school students in Massachusetts to be vaccinated for the seasonal flu has been extended to Feb. 28, 2021.
Under a mandate announced by the Department of Public Health in August, all children older than 6 months who are attending child care, pre-school, kindergarten through grade 12 schools, and colleges and universities must be vaccinated.
Students can be exempt from the shot if a medical or religious reason is provided; if they are homeschooled; or if they are in higher education, live off-campus, and only attend class virtually.
“New students entering before March 31 must receive a dose of vaccine for the current flu season for entry,” state requirements say.
Officials initially set a Dec. 31 deadline for the current school year.
Almost 30,000 people have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in Mass. (Dec. 22)
The COVID-19 vaccine is here, and thousands of healthcare workers have already received it. As of Monday evening, over 26,000 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered throughout the state, according to WHDH.
By the end of the month, the state anticipates receiving over 145,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine; originally, a total of 180,000 were expected, the news station reported.
The state is also planning to receive 120,000 doses of the Moderna version of the vaccine, according to The Boston Globe.
Workers at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center are thought to be some of the first to receive Moderna’s vaccine, which began being administered on Monday, the newspaper reported.
“I feel really grateful,” Dr. Jaime Gallegos told the Globe when he received the first round of the vaccination.
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been bumpy at some Boston hospitals (Dec. 22)
The early days of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout at some Boston hospitals has been hampered by software glitches, complaints about prioritization, and a cut in shipments.
According to The Boston Globe, an online system used to schedule vaccination appointments for staff at Mass General Brigham crashed last week due to a software application glitch. Hospital officials say they’re working to remedy a solution to the problem, which was brought on when the number of employees trying to book a timeslot surged.
Some staffers at Boston Children’s Hospital have raised frustrations that the hospital’s president, Dr. Kevin Churchwell, was the second person to receive the first shot of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine when it became available.
“We were willing to put up with everything when there wasn’t a vaccine,” one nurse told the Globe. “But now that there is one and the president is second [to get a shot], it just seems like a slap in the face.”
Staff at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have similar complaints. Doctors there told GBH News some personnel who work directly with COVID patients have not been vaccinated while others who do not work closely or at all with patients have already received shots.
“After working for 10 months in this pandemic, this feels like a slap in the face,” one doctor told the news station. “It feels like they don’t care about us.”
Dr. Paul Biddinger, medical director for emergency preparedness at Mass General Brigham, told GBH on Sunday there have been issues and challenges hospital administrators are working to address. The hospital system will ultimately vaccinate over 80,000 employees.
“It makes me feel awful that anyone feels anything less than fully valued,” Biddinger said.
“There are a lot of lessons to be learned in the communications and the roll out plan that we absolutely need to address,” he said. “We have been working on this very, very hard in the last couple of days, with changes coming starting tomorrow.”
At Boston Children’s Hospital, Churchwell told the Globe in a statement he believed it was important he receive his vaccination publicly to show it is effective.
“As we know from research, less than half of Americans of color are planning on getting vaccinated for COVID,” he said. “My ability to be a visible example is important as both a physician and a Black man.”
Staffers who treat COVID patients at Boston Medical Center have also been frustrated they were not offered doses in the first batch of shots the hospital received, according to the newspaper.
An unplanned cut in the shipment of Pfzier vaccines to the state did not help matters, given the already limited number of doses provided under the emergency use authorization, according to the Globe.
However, hospital officials say with the rollout of the Moderna vaccine, they are still on track to have immunizations of healthcare workers and long-term care residents by the end of February.
“As of today, we have vaccinated more than 1,000 staff,” Boston Medical Center said in a statement to the newspaper. “With the new allotment of Moderna vaccine, we will be able to vaccinate the remaining COVID-patient-facing staff in the next two weeks.”
Nearly 2,000 in Mass. reported hospitalized with COVID-19 (Dec. 22)
BOSTON (AP) — Nearly 2,000 people in Massachusetts were reported hospitalized Monday because of confirmed cases of COVID-19, with more than 400 in intensive care units.
The average age of those hospitalized was 67.
The number of newly confirmed coronavirus deaths rose by 41 on Monday while the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased by more than 3,700.
The new deaths pushed the state’s confirmed COVID-19 death toll to 11,506 and its confirmed caseload since the start of the pandemic to more than 314,800.
The true number of cases is likely higher because studies suggest some people can be infected and not feel sick.
The number of probable or confirmed COVID-19 deaths reported in long-term care facilities rose to 7,151.
Free COVID-19 testing now available at 3 additional sites in Boston (Dec. 21)
Free COVID-19 testing has opened in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain and Hyde Park, Mayor Marty Walsh’s office announced on Sunday.Mobile testing sites are now up and running at Whittier Street Health Center in Roxbury, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center in Hyde Park and LCG Boston in Jamaica Plain, the announcement said.“Expanding access to COVID-19 testing, particularly in communities facing higher positive test rates of COVID-19, is vital to our response. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have placed equity at the center of our response to ensure every Bostonian can stay healthy,” Walsh said in the release. “As we continue to see elevated COVID-19 activity in Boston, I want to thank our partners for their continued support for the City of Boston and our residents. In Boston, our decisions and planning are guided by public health metrics and the safety of all Bostonians.”In Hyde Park, the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center has increased its testing to 500 per day at the mobile site. Testing is available in Hyde Park for 40 hours a week, five days a week, the release said.Testing at Whittier Street Health Center is available at Washington Park Mall, 333 Warren Street, until the day after Christmas, according to the release.At LCG Jamaica Plain, there will be testing at Anna Mae Cole Community Center through Dec. 30, the release said.Along with the mobile testing sites, there are over 30 other testing sites throughout the city, according to the release.
Testing centers around the state are expecting long lines and longer turnaround times for results this week in advance of the Christmas holiday, Boston 25 reported.
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