WILL THERE BE A ROLLBACK? Still hundreds a day. But the 812 new COVID-19 cases reported Monday in Massachusetts is the smallest single-day total since early last November. With that as backdrop, Gov. Charlie Baker continued this week to raise expectations that he will roll back on restrictions.
âStay tuned, he said Monday, when asked what he has in mind, in light of the fact that itâs been reported the Biden administration may relax outdoor mask use requirements. We re going to make some additional announcements here in Massachusetts this week, Baker said. He declined to say more. CNN reported Monday that President Joe Biden plans to update the federal government s mask policy on Tuesday.
WILLIAMS MANDATE: Williams College will require students to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 ahead of the 2021 fall semester, with exceptions only for medical or religious reasons.
SOME FAMOUS FACES IN NORTH ADAMS: That s Attorney General Maura Healey in the right foreground. And a cardboard cut-out of Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In a recent tweet, Healey posted this photo and these words: Found some Fauci fans in North Adams today at a local vaccination site â one of the busiest I have visited with lines out the door (socially distant of course) and around the corner! Excellent teamwork . Standing between the cut-out and Healey is the city s mayor, Tom Bernard. TWITTER
A WELCOME LOW WITH ONE STATE DATA POINT: Three people died as a result of COVID-19, the state Department of Public Health said Tuesday. That is the lowest daily total since Aug. 5, when the DPH reported two deaths. The seven-day average of deaths, as of Tuesday, as 7.1.
NEW INFECTIONS HITTING YOUNGER PEOPLE: According to the State House News Service: Almost 40 percent of the new COVID-19 cases recorded in Massachusetts in the past two weeks were among
A health official in Philadelphia prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Use of the vaccine is on hold temporarily in Massachusetts and other states while experts review an extremely rare number of blood clots. ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
J&J VACCINE PAUSE: Federal regulators are recommending that states hold off on administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, while health experts look at six reported cases of people who had severe blood clots after getting the vaccine. Thatâs out of more than 6.8 million people who got the vaccine.
The delay prompted the head of the stateâs medical society to argue that the vaccine program in Massachusetts must be fair.