COVID-19

This page will be occasionally updated, as necessary, to reflect statewide or national updates relating to vaccination recommendations, legislature, and more.

Vaccination Recommendations

Information on staying up-to-date on COVID vaccination can be found here. A brief overview:

  • CDC recommends the 2023-2024 updated vaccine.
  • People 5 years and older: Should get one (1) dose of an updated vaccine to protect against serious illness.
  • Children 6 months to 4 years old: Need multiple doses to be up-to-date, including at least one (1) dose of the updated vaccine.
  • People who are immunocompromised: May get additional doses.
  • People 65+: May get additional doses.

COVID-19 Data

The COVID-19 Data Tracker is updated by CDC on Mondays and Fridays by 8 p.m. ET and includes early indicators (such as test positivity), severity indicators (such as hospitalizations), and more.

Isolation Guidelines

The CDC reportedly plans to loosen isolation guidelines for the first time since 2021 to align more closely with flu and RSV guidance. In the meantime, the 5-day isolation is still recommended (as long as you have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication).

Legislative Updates Related to COVID-19

On March 29, 2023, Governor Healey signed into law a supplemental budget bill which, among other things, extends the temporary provisions pertaining to the Open Meeting Law to March 31, 2025. Specifically, this further extension allows public bodies to continue holding meetings remotely without a quorum of the public body physically present at a meeting location, and to provide “adequate, alternative” access to remote meetings. The language does not make any substantive changes to the Open Meeting Law other than extending the expiration date of the temporary provisions regarding remote meetings from March 31, 2023 to March 31, 2025.

On March 15, 2023, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced that the state’s COVID-19 public health emergency will end on May 11, 2023, to align with the end of the federal public health emergency. The announcement this week, ahead of the 45-day notice required by state law, allows additional time for impacted organizations to prepare for the end of the public health emergency.

Governor Healey will also file legislation that would extend key flexibilities provided by the public health emergency, particularly around staffing for the health care industry and emergency medical services (EMS). The Governor also announced that on May 11 she plans to rescind Executive Order 595 that required all Executive Branch state employees to have received their primary series COVID-19 vaccines.

Other Resources:

How to protect yourself and what to do if you are sick:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Updates/resources from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-updates-and-information

Cumulative reports on Massachusetts COVID-19 cases, testing, and hospitalizations, with additional reports including nursing facility data, cases by city/town, and vaccination data:
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-response-reporting

Information from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency on the Federal Disaster Declaration:
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-federal-disaster-declaration

Note temporary changes in the Open Meeting Law:
https://www.mass.gov/the-open-meeting-law