11/20/2023 0 Comments Schedule covid vaccine massachusetts![]() Vaccines do not prevent all COVID infections, but public health officials say they are critical for protecting against serious illness and death from COVID. But less than 30% have received an updated booster shot. The vast majority of Massachusetts residents (95%) have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID cases and hospitalizations also have fallen, with less than 5% percent of people testing positive in early March, compared with a nearly 14% positivity rate in early January, according to state data. The level of coronavirus detected in Boston-area wastewater has been declining since the beginning of the year. In another sign of the changing times, health officials also plan to close the last 11 free state-funded COVID testing sites in Massachusetts, at the end of March. Leaders of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association said in a statement that it’s important to remember that even as the COVID crisis has abated, the health care system remains “under intense pressure,” and asked people to comply with the policies at individual health care facilities. The state requirement to wear face masks inside certain health care facilities will end with the state health emergency, but individual facilities still can require masks. So I think we'll be able to do that,” she said. Walsh said the conclusion of the public health emergency won’t prevent the state from ramping up testing or vaccinations if there's a new COVID variant or another surge in the future. ![]() We also have other infectious illnesses we need to be aware of.” ![]() “We have learned how to live with this, and work with this, and keep schools open, and worship with this, and go to bars and football games,” Walsh said. Massachusetts has come a long way from the early days of the pandemic, with vaccines, treatments, tests and protective equipment now widely available, she said. Kate Walsh, Healey’s secretary of health and human services, said in an interview that administration officials plan to treat COVID more like other respiratory illnesses. This includes staff in the state's departments of developmental services and youth services. “I’m thrilled to see the governor has taken bold action in reversing this destructive policy.”įederal and state requirements for health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID will remain in place, the governor’s office said. “The terminating of hard working, loyal state employees made a negative impact,” Dennis Martin, president of the correction officers union, said in a statement. The State Police Association of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union praised Healey’s decision to rescind the mandate. The requirement for state workers drew lawsuits from unions representing state troopers and correction officers. Since their implementation, vaccination mandates have been the target of several legal challenges. Healey’s office said the mandate, known as Executive Order 595, raised the percentage of fully vaccinated executive department employees from about 76% to more than 99%. Officials denied 89% of the requests they received for medical or religious exemptions, granting just 256 of more than 2,300 requests, WBUR reported last year. Baker ordered more than 41,000 workers to get vaccinated or secure a medical or religious exemption.īaker’s office previously said about 1,000 workers resigned or were fired for failing to comply with the mandate. Charlie Baker, and at the time was one of the strictest mandates in the country. The vaccination requirement for state workers began in October 2021 under former Gov. “We know that we have the tools to manage this virus - vaccines, masking, testing, getting treatments and staying home when sick - and we’ve reached the point where we can update our guidance to reflect where we are now.” An end to the vaccination requirement “We’ve made important progress in the fight against COVID-19,” Healey said in a statement Wednesday. Healey said the vaccination requirement for state workers saved “countless lives,” but that it’s time to update the state’s COVID response. The health emergency and the vaccination mandate for state workers will be lifted on May 11, the same day that the federal COVID public health emergency ends. The decision reflects the changing picture of COVID three years after the start of the pandemic - and more than two years after vaccines first became available. Healey said she’s also ending the state COVID health emergency, which began in 2020 and gave the governor’s office temporary powers to respond to the COVID crisis. ![]() Maura Healey is ending the sweeping and controversial mandate that state employees be vaccinated against COVID.
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