The Vaccination Campaign

The Local Vaccination Campaign Total People Fully Vaccinated (two doses of Moderna or Pfizer or one dose of Johnson & Johnson) Massachusetts: 5,291,478 (up 3,668 from Tuesday) Rhode Island: 852,387 (up 623 from Tuesday) Reported changes from the last issue of this newsletter. View all vaccine news and numbers on Globe.com Top Stories: Vaccinations Rural parts of the US have fallen far behind urban areas in vaccinating people against COVID-19, the CDC found. The gap is especially pronounced among children ages 5 to 11.  State public health departments are scrambling to use vaccine doses as demand plummets, and millions of shots have already gone to waste.  The European Union authorized the Moderna vaccine for children ages 6 to 11 and recommended Pfizer booster shots for those age 12 and over.

 

 

 

 

The Local Impact Massachusetts:  1,542,709 cases (up 1,974 from Tuesday)  ·  22,810 deaths (up 62 from Tuesday)  ·  383 hospitalizations (down 11 from Tuesday) Rhode Island:  356,627 cases (up 532 from Tuesday)  ·  3,415 deaths (up 2 from Tuesday)  ·  106 hospitalizations (down 11 from Tuesday) 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 Boston University, Northeastern, and Suffolk University have dropped mask requirements for most areas of their campuses. Maine lawmakers will no longer be required to wear masks in the State House effective Monday, and Vermont will go mask-optional soon, too.

 

 

Across the US and Around the World US 553,823,002 vaccine doses administered 79,171,907 cases 955,614 deaths Sources: Johns Hopkins Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Most and Least Vaccinated US States (% of population fully vaccinated) Top Ranked Rhode Island (80.7%) Vermont (80.1%) Maine (78.4%) Connecticut (77.8%) Massachusetts (77.7%) Bottom Ranked Alabama (50.3%) Wyoming (50.6%) Mississippi (51%) Louisiana (52.6%) Idaho (53.2%) Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Worldwide  10,549,314,885 vaccine doses administered 441,717,402 cases 5,980,941 deaths Source: Johns Hopkins  Top Stories: US and Worldwide Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis admonished a group of students for wearing face masks at an indoor news conference Wednesday, saying it was time to stop “this COVID theater." The US surgeon general requested Thursday that major tech platforms submit information on the scale of COVID-19 misinformation.  The NFL has suspended “all aspects of the joint COVID-19 Protocols, effective immediately.”

 

 

What's Next Starting Saturday, masks will not be required in most of Boston’s indoor spaces, including gyms, bars and restaurants, museums, and entertainment venues. Here’s what you need to know about the change.