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The COVID-19 pandemic has been a uniquely stressful time for almost everyone. Depression and anxiety are a normal response to stress. The MassSupport Network was established to provide free support services to people of all ages living in Massachusetts. The program is a partnership of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and Riverside Community Care.

The City of Cambridge extends a warm welcome to returning university students and staff after a year and a half of interrupted academic life. COVID-19 vaccines and increased knowledge of measures that help control the spread of the virus will help students have a more traditional residential experience this fall. The City’s three largest academic institutions - Harvard, MIT, and Lesley - report high vaccination rates among their students and employees.

The City of Cambridge issued an emergency order requiring that face masks or coverings be worn in indoor public places. The order takes effect at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, September 3, 2021. It applies to everyone over the age of two years old, with exceptions in alignment with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health guidelines.

The City of Cambridge today announced that, beginning September 8, 2021, the City will expand its free COVID-19 testing program to four days per week with walk-in sites on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Today (August 23, 2021), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee), for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA), including for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.

The City of Cambridge announced that it is extending its successful program for feeding homeless residents with meals provided by local food establishments through October 3, 2021. In March 2020, the City launched an innovative project to contract with local restaurants to provide food to the City’s homeless community during the COVID-19 public health crisis.

The City of Cambridge announced that, after consultation with the Cambridge Commissioner of Public Health and the Cambridge Public Health Department, masks will be required in all City buildings to protect the health and well-being of employees and visitors.

If you recently tested positive for Covid-19 or were in close contact with someone who did, you need to take action to prevent spreading the virus to others. Here is some important isolation and quarantine guidance from the Cambridge Public Health Department.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved an additional third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for certain people who are immunocompromised due to a medical condition or because they are receiving medications or treatments that weaken their immune response.

Based on new data on the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant people, the CDC is strongly recommending that people who are pregnant or breastfeeding be vaccinated against COVID-19.