Vax doses top 200G across state in week
More than 215,000 coronavirus vaccine doses were given in Massachusetts during the last week, as those 65plus and people with two specific health conditions started getting shots in Phase 2 of the state’s rollout.
In the last week, 215,571 total doses have been administered and reported, according to the state’s weekly vaccine report on Thursday. That’s a slight decrease of 9,770 doses from the previous week’s 225,341 doses.
Overall, the state has administered and reported 1,566,301 total doses, according to the daily vaccine report on Thursday.
The more than 1.5 million total doses administered breaks down to 1,111,829 people who have received at least one dose and 454,472 people who have received both doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Those figures represent a daily increase of 47,820 doses.
Nearly 2 million doses have been shipped to the Bay State, and more than 78% of total doses shipped to the state have been reported as administered.
Meanwhile, health officials on Thursday reported 33 new virus deaths and 1,928 new cases as the number of estimated active COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations continued to drop.
The count of estimated active cases in Massachusetts is now 32,117, a significant decline from 98,750 at the start of the year.
The seven-day average of confirmed cases is now 1,163, a drop from an average of 6,241 cases in the first week of January.
Thursday’s 33 new virus deaths bring the state’s total recorded death toll to 15,978. The seven-day average of daily deaths is now 35, compared to 77 daily deaths a couple weeks ago. That figure peaked at 175 daily deaths in late April.
Statewide hospitalizations have also been decreasing. Hospitalizations on Thursday went down by 22 patients, bringing the total to 853 patients.
The seven-day average of the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 has declined from 2,347 patients at the start of January to an average of 926 patients now.
A total of 582 staff and students in Massachusetts schools have tested positive for coronavirus in the past two weeks according data from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The weekly report published on Thursdays shows 373 students and 209 staff tested positive for the coronavirus from Feb. 11 to Wednesday, according to the DESE, which includes a weeklong February break. This week’s count represents a decrease of 92 cases from last week’s total of 674.
Only 28 cities and towns were at high risk for coronavirus transmission this week, continuing the drop from 110 communities two weeks ago and 66 communities last week. The 28 communities at high risk is about the same as the count from mid-November.