The rise in COVID infections this December looks eerily similar to last year

Yes. Really. 

Even with the widespread availability of vaccinations, the rise in COVID-19 infections in Massachusetts looks strangely similar to the surge we saw last year, my colleagues Martin Finucane and Ryan Huddle report. 

But there's a lot more than meets the eye: Even with the rising number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths are below where they were one year ago, which experts said is an encouraging sign that we're getting somewhere in the pandemic.