VACCINES SAVE LIVES. Never has this been more evident than in the last year. Since the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than 15,000 lives in Massachusetts […]
Health
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
In another shift, Baker favors mask mandate in schools
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE’S education commissioner is seeking authority to mandate that students ages 5 and up and staff and educators in public K-12 schools wear masks indoors […]
Posted inPolitics
Where the pandemic buck stops
AS MASSACHUSETTS simultaneously looks to make its way past the worst of the pandemic while also adjusting to the new curve balls being thrown by the surging Delta variant, it […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker orders state employees to be vaccinated
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER ordered all state employees to be fully vaccinated by October 17 or face disciplinary action or dismissal, with exceptions only for those with medical disabilities or sincerely […]
Posted inEducation
Poll shows strong support for school mask mandate
WHILE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER continues to resist imposing a statewide mask mandate for Massachusetts schools, new poll results show strong public support for such a measure. According to a new […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
20% increase in breakthrough cases
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN THE WEEK between August 7 and August 14, almost 2,700 fully vaccinated people became infected with COVID-19 in Massachusetts, the Department of Public Health said […]
Posted inEducation
Mass. Teachers Assn. backs vaccine mandate
THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS ASSOCIATION is embracing mandatory vaccinations for all employees and eligible students in public schools and colleges across the state, subject to collective bargaining agreements concerning those not […]
Posted inUncategorized
In Kingston, dueling policies over masks
THE KINGSTON BOARD of Health voted to require masks in schools last week and the following day the Kingston School Committee voted not to. The Board of Health has no […]
Posted inHealth Care
Meet the state’s only Black home birth midwife
A BLACK WOMAN is nearly twice as likely as a White woman in Massachusetts to die during pregnancy or after childbirth, according to a 2014 report by the Department of Public […]
Posted inUncategorized
Delta illustrates benefits, limits of vaccines
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 […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
The ‘other crisis’ keeps on chugging along
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE PRELIMINARY DEPARTMENT of Public Health data show 1,038 people died of opioid overdoses in the first six months of this year, an estimated 5 percent decrease […]
Posted inEducation
Boston teachers union takes lead in embracing vaccine mandates
JESSICA TANG says it only makes sense at this point based on the data and science. But that kind of logic isn’t always driving the COVID conversation, so the Boston […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
PrEP must be available behind bars
IN AN EFFORT to reduce HIV transmission, the Biden administration released new guidance in July mandating that medical insurers provide free access to medication that prevents transmission of HIV. Although […]
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 […]
Posted inEducation, Health Care
Spilka joins calls for school mask mandate
AS BATTLE LINES are drawn among Massachusetts leaders, Senate President Karen Spilka added her voice to those calling for school children to be masked this fall. “No one wants to […]
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 […]
Posted inOpinion
Getting 911 right for mental health emergencies
IF YOU’VE EVER called 911 for a medical crisis, you likely received the response you expected and needed. An ambulance with trained emergency medical technicians arrived to assist, with competence […]
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 […]
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 […]
Posted inPolitics, Race/Racism
Janey invokes slavery, birtherism in rejecting vax mandates
RULES RELATED TO the ever-changing pandemic, where the light at the end of the tunnel seemed to quickly shift to a picture of dark days ahead, can be hard to […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Poll shows strong support for workplace vax mandates
AS THE DELTA variant spurs an increase in cases and renewed calls for masking indoors, new poll numbers show Massachusetts employees broadly support their vaccine requirements for their own workplaces. […]
Posted inUncategorized
First two winners of VaxMillions lottery announced
DARRELL WASHINGTON AND Daniela Maldonado are the first two winners of the state’s VaxMillions lottery. Washington won $1 million as a prize for getting vaccinated against COVID-19, while Maldonado won […]
Posted inHealth Care
State remains mum on whether school mask mandates will returnÂ
FOR MONTHS, there was hope that by the time children returned to school this fall, they could be vaccinated against COVID-19. But with approval of vaccines for children still months away, many public health experts believe students – […]
Posted inHealth Care
‘Going in the wrong direction’
THROUGHOUT THE COVID-19 pandemic, two big data points have stood out as indicators of where things stand: The level of infections and sickness and the trendline showing where things are […]