The extensive list of qualifying health conditions fits Massachusetts in line with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
Shortly after midnight, the state updated its website to reflect the addition of the new priority groups.
Massachusetts recently switched to a pre-registration system for its state-owned mass vaccination sites. Mass residents can sign up in advance, regardless of eligibility status, and are notified when it is their turn to book an appointment at one of the mass venues. Eligible residents can also use vaxfinder.mass.gov to search open appointment slots at other locations, such as pharmacies and grocery stores.
The state is currently building a tool that will allow pre-registered residents to change their submissions if they qualify under the new conditions. The feature will be available soon, a statement said.
The website vaxfinder.mass.gov was still functioning properly in the early hours of the morning. In the past, when additional groups were eligible for the vaccine, the crazy signing up for an appointment resulted in the site interrupting interruptions or crashing completely.
At least one major pharmacy where vaccine appointments are available, CVS, updated its fitness requirements shortly after midnight to reflect the state’s updated vaccine vaccination plan. But by 7 a.m., all appointments across the country were fully booked.
The number of coronavirus cases is gradually rising as 90 percent of the school districts in Massachusetts are preparing to send elementary school students back to full-time, personal learning. Last week, COVID-19 cases among public school students and staff members reached their highest weekly total since the beginning of the academic year.
Despite the record report – 801 new cases of coronavirus among students and 244 among school staff for the week ending April 3 – government officials and public health experts said the figures were not a sign that schools were unsafe.
They cited several factors, including an increase in virus cases among young people and the number of children and staff in schools that have recently reached the highest levels since classrooms closed in March 2020.
CDC officials said a personal school is safe for children as long as precautions are taken, including maintaining 3 feet distance between students and universal masked clothing.
But the return to personal learning has been complicated in some communities, such as Springfield and Lynn, by a shortage of school bus drivers.
Tom Hamilton, executive director of the School Transportation Association of Massachusetts, said there have been about 1,200 fewer bus bus drivers at work since the pandemic suddenly sent students home in March 2020. School leaders in Springfield warned families last week that a shortage of bus drivers could be causing transport disruptions on Monday.
Some districts, including Boston and Worcester, have received pardons from the state to delay the return to personal learning. According to state education officials, all primary schools are expected to be fully personal by 3 May.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading expert in the field of health infections, warned that the United States ‘is not out of the woods yet’. Cases and deaths across the Coronavirus nationwide have climbed in recent weeks. But Fauci said in an interview with CNN’s Jim Acosta over the weekend that the country is “almost there”.
As long as the US follows two important steps – to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible and to reduce public health mitigation efforts, such as wearing masks, all deaths, hospitalizations and infections can be prevented, he said. said.
It comes in the wake of a number of states, including Massachusetts, that have eased their coronavirus restrictions in recent weeks.
“It’s not going to last forever,” Fauci said. “Just stay there a little longer, and the vaccination and vaccinations of people in this country are going to dominate the increase in the virus.”
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, an average of more than 3 million people receive a COVID-19 vaccine daily in the US. The country also reported a new record on Saturday, with 4 million doses being administered for the first time in one day.
According to the Department of Public Health, the number of people who were fully vaccinated in Massachusetts increased by two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson, to 1,478,520.
Amanda Kaufman of the Globe staff contributed.
Shannon Larson can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @ shannonlarson98. Laura Crimaldi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @lauracrimaldi.