Safer Ways to Celebrate the Holidays
The holidays are right around the corner! Because many generations tend to gather to celebrate the season, the best way to minimize the risk of COVID-19 and keep your family and friends safer is to get vaccinated.
CDC Recommends Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine for Children 5 to 11 Years
CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation that children 5 to 11 years old be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine. CDC now expands vaccine recommendations to about 28 million children in the United States in this age group and allows providers to begin vaccinating them as soon as possible.
Cambridge Public Health Department Urges Residents to Get a COVID-19 Booster Shot
Booster shots increase your protection against COVID-19, including variants. During the Omicron surge, receipt of a third (booster) dose has been highly effective at preventing COVID-19–associated hospitalizations, the need for mechanical ventilation, and death. These findings underscore the importance of receiving a booster dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to prevent both moderately severe and severe COVID-19, especially while the Omicron variant is the predominant circulating variant.
Baker-Polito Administration Announces $668 Million Small Business Relief Package
The Baker-Polito Administration launched a $668 million program to provide financial assistance to Massachusetts small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program in part relies on the pending federal COVID-19 relief bill recently passed by Congress. Regardless of the developments at the federal level, the Baker-Polito Administration will start releasing millions in new funding to restaurants, retailers, and other small businesses throughout the Commonwealth as soon as next week.
City of Cambridge Urges Residents to Wear Face Coverings When Leaving Their Home
In keeping with the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Cambridge Public Health Department, the City of Cambridge today is strongly recommending that residents wear face coverings anytime they are outside of their home, especially in public settings in which physical distancing measures (ensuring 6 feet of space or more from others) are difficult to maintain. Those areas include grocery stores and pharmacies.