Berkshire County continues to take enormous strides to combat the opioid crisis, including an extensive history of proactive practitioner education around pain management, more and more providers able to prescribe buprenorphine, and an increase in harm reduction, recovery, and treatment resources available despite the pandemic. In light of this extraordinary work, it was disheartening to see 62 opioid overdose deaths reported last year, up 11% from the year before and the highest number of recorded deaths.
COVID-19 Vaccine
Two safe and effective COVID vaccines have been given emergency use authorization by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These vaccines, made by Pfizer and Moderna, have already been given to more than 2,000 COVID-facing health-care workers in Berkshire County, as well as more than 35,000 in the Commonwealth, more than 2 million across the United States and more than 4.4 million worldwide.