Massachusetts to ease some pandemic business restrictions
January 21, 2021 GMT
BOSTON (AP) Massachusetts will begin to ease some of its pandemic restrictions on businesses as spikes in the number of hospitalizations and new cases of COVID-19 have begun to slow, Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday.
Beginning Monday at 5 a.m., the state’s early closure order for businesses and the stay at home advisory for the public will be lifted, Baker said at a Statehouse press conference.
The early closure order put in place in early November targeted a range of businesses including restaurants, health clubs, movie theaters and others, requiring them to close at 9:30 p.m.
Baker dashes Cape hopes for mass vaccination site; local officials not giving up
By Cynthia McCormick
Cape Cod Times
As Gov. Charlie Baker Wednesday announced a new mass COVID-19 vaccination site in Dartmouth, Cape officials voiced their disappointment at the lack of a similar site in Barnstable County. Cape Cod is clearly being left behind here in the COVID vaccine rollout, State Sen. Julian Cyr (D-Truro) said during a Thursday morning COVID-19 Task Force briefing. I’m frustrated, I’m disappointed, and I m frankly pretty enraged. We need a mass vaccine distribution site on Cape Cod…or adequate supply.
Bruce Murphy, Yarmouth Health director, echoed the senator s increasingly vocal pleas to the state to prioritize Cape seniors.
With demand high and supply low, vaccinating America s seniors is taking time
and last updated 2021-02-11 15:14:46-05
Covered in snow, a bitter coastal wind whips across the beaches of Chatham, Massachusetts.
But out here in the middle of winter, the fight to vaccinate this nationâs senior population is in full force.
Anna Marie has spent most of the last year inside her Chatham, Massachusetts home. This 68-year-old retired teacher hasnât been able to see her kids or many friends for fear of catching COVID-19.
âItâs difficult that I canât see my children; thatâs the biggest thing. It makes me ache for better times,â Anna Marie said while standing outside of her home, which had just been dusted with a few inches of snow.
Eastham clinic booking for Friday
The Barnstable Patriot
The Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment will make appointments available after 9 a.m. tomorrow for COVID-19 vaccine appointments on Wednesday.
The clinics are available for those who live or work on Cape Cod and meet the criteria for Phase One or who are 75 years or older. These two sites will be searchable and open for appointments at www.maimmunizations.org after 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Please arrive no more than 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment.
Cape Cod Melody Tent, Hyannis
Address: 21 W Main St, Hyannis, MA 02601
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 10, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.; appointment required
SANDWICH Town officials said they vaccinated about 250 residents ages 85 and over this week as part of a municipal COVID-19 immunization effort.
Assistant Town Manager Heather Harper said the town plans to continue to reach out to residents 85 and over who have called the town s helpline, which went live on Jan. 19.
But she urged people to grab the first COVID-19 vaccination they can, be it at a mass vaccination site off Cape, through a pharmacy or a regional clinic sponsored by Barnstable County.
“If you can get (an appointment), take it,” Harper said Friday. “Don’t wait for us.”
Next week, the town plans to focus on dispensing second doses of vaccine to first responders from Sandwich, Falmouth, Mashpee, Bourne and Joint Base Cape Cod who got their initial dose of the Moderna vaccine the week of Jan. 11 at the Sandwich Human Services Building, Harper said.