Natick Board of Health: 1/26/21 COVID Updates

Vaccine Shortage

• Natick and other communities’ vaccination efforts are limited by available supply

• The Massachusetts Health Dept has clarified that 98% of vaccines given to the state have been distributed

• Currently there is a cap on the number of vaccine doses a community is allowed each week

• Natick is currently allowed 100 doses per week; surrounding communities appear to have similar limits

• Natick’s Health Director confirmed the Town could vaccinate significantly more people if supply were to increase

• Clinics to-date have been administered primarily by volunteers

• The Town has received grant funding to support paid staff to provide vaccines if supply increases

Vaccine Clinics

• Natick has been hosting a weekly public vaccination clinic

• By the end of tomorrow (January 37), the Natick Health Dept will have vaccinated 300 people who live or work in Natick

• Next week Natick’s vaccination clinic will include individuals that qualify for vaccines under Phase II - however, they have not vaccinated everyone in Phase I

• The Natick Health Department does not have data on how many Natick residents qualify for Phase I or Phase II (it has census data on ages, but not on occupation and other key determinants)

• Public, state-led vaccination sites will be opening in February, including one at Gillette Stadium

• Health Dept will continue to offer clinics as long as they have access to the vaccine

• CVS in Natick has not received vaccines yet

How to Sign Up for the Vaccine, if You are Eligible

• Calling Natick Health Dept is not helpful

• Staff are receiving 200+ calls a day

• Residents can use the state’s system to confirm their eligibility, see what and where appointments are available and sign up at public clinics

• The link is available on the Health Dept’s website at: https://www.maimmunizations.org/

Vaccinating Seniors

• The Natick Health Dept realizes some seniors don’t have access to computer

• They are working to set up a phone bank at the CSC to take calls and help walk them through it or help register them for whatever slots are open

• They are not taking a list because they don’t know if and when the vaccines are coming

Vaccinating Teachers

• Despite pressuring schools to fully reopen, they moved individuals over age 65 ahead of teachers

• The Health Dept won’t be able to vaccinate teachers during Feb vacation as the Mass Health Dept informed them they just don’t have enough vaccine to go around

More on Infections Among Children Ages 0-19

• Children ages 0-19 are currently the age bracket that is experiencing the most infections

• This is not just in Natick, but across the entire state

• This trend began December, when the age of the positive cases started dropping

• The age group of 20-29 was previously the highest

• Some is being spread because of group and team activities

• There is also a high amount of spread within families at this time

• They have not seen any transmission within the schools

• Within the age bracket, it is more school-aged children (not infants)

How to Protect Against Covid Variants/Mutations

• Natick Health Director and a Board member suggested wearing two masks

• A surgical mask with cloth mask over it

• Make sure you are using a quality mask at a minimum - bandanas are not effective

• If you watched Biden’s inauguration, there were a lot of double masks

• Airflow is also important

• Keep a window open helps with aerosols

• Transfer of incoming air and outgoing air really helps; have venting or hepa filters in your home/space can make a big difference

• If the variants cause Massachusetts’s cases to take off again, they may have to slow down the openings a bit

• The good news is the vaccines appear to do a very good job combating variants from Europe

• The Brazil and S. Africa ones are more concerning

• It is very difficult to have a clear answer about the pervasiveness of variants in Massachusetts as the USA is not doing a good job tracking the genome