AN EIGHT-WEEK federal-state pilot vaccine program at the Hynes Convention Center will begin administering 7,000 shots a day starting Wednesday and then next week begin diverting roughly 2,000 doses a […]
COVID-19
Posted inOpinion
Essential workers need child care support
ESSENTIAL WORKERS are taking care of our state and of our nation: healthcare workers, grocery clerks, bank tellers, first responders, domestic workers, restaurant workers, janitors, and so many more. Yet many of us […]
Posted inUncategorized
Virus notes: Baker shows interest in vaccine pass
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER indicated on Thursday that he is interested in so-called vaccine passes that could be used for travel or to gain access to public venues, but he said […]
Posted inUncategorized
Uncertainty abounds in vaccine eligibility numbers
WHEN THE MASSACHUSETTS COVID-19 Command Center calculates how many people are eligible for vaccinations in each of the state’s three phases, there’s a problem: The total number is 1 million […]
Posted inUncategorized
Virus Notes: Senator calls for vaccine passes
SEN. BARRY FINEGOLD of Andover urged the Baker administration on Tuesday to develop some sort of identification that could be used to prove a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19 […]
Posted inUncategorized
Lawmakers press Baker on scrapping local vaccination playbook
FOR 20 YEARS, Massachusetts public health officials prepared for an emergency scenario that would require local boards of health to set up vaccination clinics across the state. But when COVID-19 […]
Posted inThe Download
Beacon Hill’s public health priorities
The cochairs of the Legislature’s Public Health Committee say inequity is their top concern in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. “The COVID epidemic […]
Posted inUncategorized
Beacon Hill’s public health priorities
THE COCHAIRS of the Legislature’s Public Health Committee say inequity is their top concern in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. “The COVID epidemic […]
Posted inOpinion
Legislative oversight hearing on COVID was shameful
THOMAS PAYNE wrote, in The American Crisis (1776), that “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Although he wrote those words during the American Revolution, he may have been talking about […]
Posted inThe Download
Nearly a fifth of state’s mayors stepping down
Eight Massachusetts mayors – nearly a fifth of all the mayors in the state – have announced they are stepping down this year. Five of them, including Thomas Bernard of […]
Posted inPolitics
Nearly a fifth of state’s mayors stepping down
EIGHT MASSACHUSETTS mayors – nearly a fifth of all the mayors in the state – have announced they are stepping down this year. Five of them, including Thomas Bernard of […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s not (only) about the science
“I am very much confused by the petition request[ing] to open [schools] to full 5-day return while also implementing full infection control measures. This is objectively not possible.” “Any return […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
New vaccine pre-registration system coming
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TWELVE WEEKS into the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday that a new vaccine appointment pre-registration system his administration is launching Friday will […]
Posted inEducation
Teachers unions seem to have Baker’s number
IF YOU’RE KEEPING score at home, Gov. Charlie Baker lost another battle on Wednesday in his long-running war with the state’s teachers unions. Baker for months had resisted the call […]
Posted inEducation
Spilka to Baker: Get teachers vaccinated
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE STATE expecting to see its supply of COVID-19 vaccine increase over the coming weeks, Senate President Karen Spilka on Tuesday said Gov. Charlie Baker […]
Posted inEconomy
State eyeing hybrid telework model for half of workforce
CLOSE TO HALF of the state’s executive branch employees could continue some form of telework even once the pandemic ends, Secretary of Administration and Finance Michael Heffernan said Tuesday. Speaking […]
Posted inOpinion
Say no to ‘double-dip’ PPP tax break
STRUGGLING SMALL businesses are being used once again by anti-tax zealots to push legislators and the public alike into supporting a new and ill-advised state tax break. Advocates for this […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass. will start getting limited Johnson & Johnson vaccine
MASSACHUSETTS WILL BEGIN getting a small supply of one-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines next week, but is unlikely to get a significant shipment of the shots until the end […]
Posted inHealth Care
Contact tracing collaborative laying off 170
THE MASSACHUSETTS contact tracing collaborative is laying off 10 percent of its workforce this weekend as COVID-19 case counts continue a steady decline that prompted Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday […]
Posted inHealth Care
Sudders: Mass vaccination sites short-term solution
HEALTH AND HUMAN Services Secretary Marylou Sudders pushed back against the view that the state is going all-in on mass vaccination sites on Thursday during testimony before the Legislature’s Committee […]
Posted inOpinion
Russell ‘Stringer’ Bell could move vaccines
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER has taken a lot of heat for the woeful performance of the state’s coronavirus vaccine distribution program. Given his claim to fame as an effective manager with […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker: Mass. has received $71b in fed aid
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT has funneled $71 billion to Massachusetts and its residents through four COVID-19 relief programs over the last year, Gov. Charlie Baker said at a legislative oversight hearing […]
Posted inUncategorized
Lawmakers grill governor on website problems
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER was in the hot seat Thursday morning as the Legislature’s 17-member committee on COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness and Management grilled him over the state’s rollout of vaccines. […]
Posted inOpinion
Making pods work for everyone
AS MANY STUDENTS struggle to keep up with schoolwork virtually, Julia Rios welcomed praise that two kindergarteners she is working with in a new community learning pod are thriving. Their […]