In the News
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December 7, 2021 - WBUR
Case numbers are rising, the positivity rate is increasing, and the number of people fully vaccinated has plateaued. And, there's a new variant on the rise: omicron. This week on Ask the Docs, we take listener calls with Dr. Michael Hirsh, Medical Director of the Department of Public Health in Worcester, and director of pediatric trauma at UMass Memorial Health, and to Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious diseases at South Shore Health, to answer all of your COVID questions.
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December 6, 2021 - USA Today
A vaccine mandate for private-sector workers across New York City will take effect this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday.
The expansion of de Blasio's "Key to NYC" vaccination program, effective Dec. 27, will cover 184,000 businesses, he said. Vaccinations are already required for hospital and nursing home workers – and city employees including teachers, police officers and firefighters. A vaccination mandate for employees of private and religious schools was announced last week.
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December 6, 2021 - Kaiser Health News
News outlets report on the decision of a superior court judge to deny requests from the fire department to delay the city's vaccine mandate, and a separate court decision which lifted a temporary injunction placed on San Diego Unified School District's student shot mandate.
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December 6, 2021 - WCVBDoctors plead with people to get COVID-19 vaccines, boosters with omicron confirmed in Massachusetts
WORCESTER, Mass. — Massachusetts and 15 other states, including Connecticut, have confirmed the presence of the omicron coronavirus variant as of Sunday night — and federal health officials say it is just the beginning.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have been rising in Massachusetts and across the country over the last several weeks, signaling a potential winter surge that could put further strain an an already stressed health care system, as doctors are urging people to get vaccines and booster shots.
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December 4, 2021 - WBUR
The omicron variant is here in Massachusetts.
The state's Department of Public Health says it was detected in a fully vaccinated woman in her 20s who lives in Middlesex County. The department said the woman, who had traveled out of state, had a mild case of COVID-19 that did not require hospitalization.
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December 3, 2021 - Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER — UMass Memorial Medical Center had 70 people waiting for beds at the University Campus on Friday — eight of whom needed intensive care beds — as COVID-19 surges followed after the Thanksgiving holiday.
UMass Memorial Health President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson said the worst is yet to come.
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December 2, 2021 - Bloomberg
The omicron variant will be met in the U.S. by a health-care system accustomed to Covid-19 surges yet battered by almost two years of fighting the pandemic with no end in sight.
The availability of vaccines, treatments and steady supplies of protective gear have made many hospitals better equipped than ever to cope with Covid admissions that have been rising nationally since early November.
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December 2, 2021 - Boston Globe
New COVID-19 cases continue to mount at an alarming rate, the state reported Thursday, with more patients streaming into already-strained hospitals just as the new Omicron strain of the virus appears to be taking a deeper hold in the United States.
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December 2, 2021 - WBZ
BOSTON (CBS) – Anxiety over rising COVID-19 numbers had the Cambridge Health Alliance vaccination clinic in Somerville packed Thursday. “Now another new prominent variant,” said Joe Mello, who got a booster.
This week’s COVID case numbers in Massachusetts are at the highest since January. The positivity rate is back where it was this time last year, at around 5%. “I just hope it doesn’t get any worse like before,” said Chuck Maxwell, as he got a booster shot.
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December 2, 2021 - NBC Boston
President Joe Biden is expected to extend a mask mandate on all public transportation Thursday through mid-March as the first case of the new omicron COVID-19 variant has been detected in the United States.
He also wants inbound international passengers to take a COVID test within 24 hours of departure and plans to increase the availability of free at-home rapid tests.
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December 1, 2021 - Muscular Dystrophy News Today
Author and advocate Elijah J. Stacy is using what he has learned through adversity in battling Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) to help others overcome their own challenges.
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December 1, 2021 - Medscape
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December 1, 2021 - Telegram & Gazette
Governor Charlie Baker has asked hospitals to reduce the number of elective surgical procedures, but at UMass Memorial Medical Center, that won’t change things too much.
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December 1, 2021 - Telegram & Gazette
As the omicron variant of COVID pops up across the globe, stock markets are falling, travel bans are being enacted, lines are forming to get vaccines and boosters, and mask mandates are once again entering the political debate.
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November 30, 2021 - GBH
Health officials in Brockton and Worcester say they are on high alert and bracing to handle the first cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, should it spread to Massachusetts.
Scientists and public health experts are still learning about the variant's potential impact, from how easily it spreads to whether it makes people more severely ill than other variants. Until they know more, city officials are encouraging people to follow the same precautions as earlier stages in the pandemic: wear a mask, wash your hands, maintain distance in public spaces and get vaccinated.
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November 30, 2021 - Spectrum News
WORCESTER, Mass. - A new variant of COVID-19 discovered in South Africa is spreading and a local doctor says there are a number of mutations in this one and it could become the primary variant going forward.
Omicron has led at least 44 countries including the U.S. to impose travel restrictions from several African countries. There are currently no known cases in the U.S., but UMass Memorial Health internal medicine specialist, Dr. Robert Klugman, says there's a high chance there will be.
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November 29, 2021 - WCVB
New policies to combat an increasing number of hospital patients go into effect Monday.
Some surgeries could be put on hold as rising COVID-19 cases put a strain on local hospitals.
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November 29, 2021 - WCVB
BOSTON — Health officials say it appears the omicron variant is more contagious, but it’s unclear if it will result in more severe illness.
And it’s not yet clear how the current vaccines hold up against it.
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November 27, 2021 - Fierce Healthcare
Massachusetts is requiring hospitals and health systems to reduce non-urgent scheduled surgical procedures. But the top reason isn't a surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
The state’s public health department released guidance this week to hospitals that aims to conserve inpatient hospital capacity, with a major staffing shortage and a wave of non-COVID-19 care key drivers of the decision.
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November 27, 2021 - Boston Herald
Coronavirus booster shots are now authorized for everyone 18 years and older and can be given six months after mRNA vaccines and two months after a Johnson & Johnson shot.
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