The Baker administration on Tuesday ordered Massachusetts hospitals, already teeming with patients who delayed care during the early days of the pandemic, to reduce nonurgent surgeries to help manage a potential winter rush of people sick with respiratory illnesses, including the flu and COVID-19.

The order comes as the coronavirus is again causing a surge of infections throughout New England with the onset of cold weather, with Massachusetts and Connecticut experiencing the steepest rise in cases in the country.

WORCESTER — In the bay outside the crowded emergency department of UMass Memorial Medical Center, the ambulances keep coming.

Just inside the doors, a pair of paramedics wait with their patient, an elderly woman on a stretcher.

Countries in the Northern Hemisphere are facing an unpredictable winter as COVID-19 continues to spread during the flu season, experts have warned.

Last year, when governments recommended a range of protective measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing and lockdowns to slow COVID-19 infections, the number of influenza cases dropped dramatically compared with the seasonal average.

Nov 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines for all adults six months after having been fully vaccinated with the shots from either Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and partner BioNTech SE or Moderna Inc (MRNA.O).

RUTLAND, Mass. - COVID-19 vaccination eligibility is expanding in Massachusetts. Anyone 18 and older can now receive a booster shot. Meanwhile, younger kids are getting their first doses of the vaccine. 

Nine-year old Isaac Tsai is getting his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. “It means I’ll be more safe from the coronavirus," Issac, who received the Pfizer vaccine, said. 

Picture this: You're critically ill, perhaps dying, and your nearby hospital doesn't have any open beds in its intensive care unit.

You're taken to the sky in a medical helicopter, as paramedics and dispatchers search for an available ICU bed on the ground – in a health care system stressed by staffing shortages and hammered by COVID-19.

Legislators are preparing a bill that would make it harder for large health systems to expand to the suburbs, a proposal that several hospital leaders applauded as a promising first step to shoring up the state’s most vulnerable institutions.

In her victory speech after cruising to a landslide win in the Boston mayor’s race, Michelle Wu spoke of the urgency of “bold” change to “meet the moment” the city is facing, a theme she sounded throughout her campaign. But she also talked about the importance of basic city services, saying her administration can pay attention to both. 

Though kids ages 5 to 11 are starting to get vaccinated against COVID-19, one Central Massachusetts physician said a big drop-off in case counts isn’t expected.