The Vaccination Campaign

The Local Vaccination Campaign Total People Fully Vaccinated (two doses of Moderna or Pfizer or one dose of Johnson & Johnson) Massachusetts: 5,183,285 (up 15,002 from Thursday) Rhode Island: 826,128 (up 1,652 from Thursday) Reported changes from the last issue of this newsletter. View all vaccine news and numbers on Globe.com Top Stories: Vaccinations More than 94 percent of Boston city workers are vaccinated, Mayor Michelle Wu said, as she extended the deadline to get the shots by one week before employees are put on unpaid leave.  Booster shots significantly increase protection against the Omicron variant, three US studies found.  Pfizer has started studying its initial vaccine compared to one tweaked to match the Omicron variant.

 

 

 

 

The Local Impact Massachusetts:  1,449,781 cases (up 45,567 from Thursday)  ·  21,107 deaths (up 325 from Thursday)  ·  2,688 hospitalizations (down 456 from Thursday) Rhode Island:  334,581 cases (up 10,347 from Thursday)  ·  3,263 deaths (up 39 from Thursday)  ·  460 hospitalizations (down 72 from Thursday) Reported increases or decreases from the last issue of this newsletter. Sources: Massachusetts Department of Public Health Rhode Island Department of Health View all COVID-19 news and numbers on Globe.com Top Stories: COVID-19 Impact While COVID-19 cases have sharply declined in Massachusetts, hospitalizations have fallen more slowly and deaths are ticking up, my colleagues Martin Finucane and Ryan Huddle reported.  For most people, Omicron feels like a cold. But some have found that the variant's designation as "mild" is an understatement.  The Massachusetts Nurses Association has called on Governor Charlie Baker to declare a state of emergency through the end of March as they warn that the state's health care system is nearing a breaking point.

 

 

Across the US and Around the World US 535,307,175 vaccines administered 72,013,207 cases 871,269 deaths Sources: Johns Hopkins Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Most and Least Vaccinated US States (% of population fully vaccinated) Top Ranked Vermont (79.1%) Rhode Island (78.4%) Maine (77.2%) Connecticut (76.2%) Massachusetts (76%) Bottom Ranked Idaho (47.7%) Alabama (49.2%) Wyoming (49.6%) Mississippi (49.8%) Louisiana (51.5%) Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Worldwide  9,850,294,423 vaccines administered 357,335,126 cases 5,611,925 deaths Source: Johns Hopkins  Top Stories: US and Worldwide The Food and Drug Administration moved to revoke emergency authorization for two coronavirus antibody treatments after they were found to be ineffective against Omicron.  The United Kingdom will stop requiring vaccinated travelers to take a COVID-19 test after arriving in England.