THE WORRYING SPREAD of the Delta variant has vastly changed the landscape around COVID-19 vaccines, putting renewed attention on getting everyone vaccinated while at the same time illustrating the limits of vaccination. In Massachusetts, where around 64 percent of the population is vaccinated, Gov. Charlie Baker has strongly resisted imposing vaccine mandates or creating a […]
COVID-19
Posted inOpinion
Vaccine mandate worked for us
COVID CASES are once again on the rise. People are getting sick. People are scared. Businesses, including hospitals and healthcare providers, are returning to all-too-familiar protocols to again try to slow the spread. We’re encouraging those at risk to mask back up, we’re doubling and tripling down on sanitizing measures, and continuing to beat the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health care leaders back vaccine mandates
THREE OF THE state’s health care leaders urged employers to require their workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, saying the only real protection against the Delta variant of the disease is inoculation. The health care leaders – Pete Healy, the president of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Peter Slavin, the president of Massachusetts General Hospital; […]
Posted inThe Download
Status of schools unclear this fall
Students are returning to school soon, and no one is quite sure what to expect. With the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus on the rise, it’s unclear whether school will look more like it did pre-pandemic, like it did last year, or somewhere in between. Takeru Nagayoshi, a teacher in New Bedford, said everything […]
Posted inEducation
Status of schools unclear this fall
STUDENTS ARE RETURNING to school soon, and no one is quite sure what to expect. With the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus on the rise, it’s unclear whether school will look more like it did pre-pandemic, like it did last year, or somewhere in between. Takeru Nagayoshi, a teacher in New Bedford, said everything […]
Posted inUncategorized
Latest VaxMillions winners named
MASSACHUSETTS HAS another million-dollar winner. Donna McNulty of Billerica, a longtime employee of a small publishing and software company, is the second winner of a $1 million prize from the state’s VaxMillions lottery. According to a press release from the governor’s office, McNulty plans to use her winnings to prepare for her retirement in December 2022. She said she got the vaccine […]
Posted inThe Download
Baker’s course on virus draws fire from left and right
When it comes to mask mandates, you can’t please everyone. Gov. Charlie Baker last week announced that he will “strongly recommend” that elementary school students wear face coverings, but he will not mandate it. Statements from two of the candidates running for governor in 2022 made clear the tough political position Baker and Lt. Gov. […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker’s course on virus draws fire from left and right
WHEN IT COMES to mask mandates, you can’t please everyone. Gov. Charlie Baker last week announced that he will “strongly recommend” that elementary school students wear face coverings, but he will not mandate it. Statements from two of the candidates running for governor in 2022 made clear the tough political position Baker and Lt. Gov. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Contact tracing ramping up yet again
THE STATE’S CONTACT tracing effort is ramping up again in the midst of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. The program was scheduled to shut down in September but instead the contract with the operator, the nonprofit Cambridge-based Partners in Health, is being extended through the end of the year. The number of contract tracers, currently […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker order requires nursing home staff to be vaccinated
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER announced Wednesday that the state will require all nursing home and long-term care facility staff to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by October 10. The decision marks an evolution for the Republican governor, who has resisted imposing vaccine mandates on public employees. The decision is intended to protect the population most vulnerable to COVID-19 — the elderly. Some major area hospitals have issued […]