Wednesday June 23 COVID-19 Updates

Dear all,

I write to you this evening with relevant COVID-19 updates and resources.

New Online Tool Shows Distribution of Federal Aid to MA Cities & Towns

The Baker-Polito Administration today announced that it has published a new, interactive online tool that shows a breakdown by municipality of the $3.4 billion in direct federal aid awarded to local governments across Massachusetts by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This aid is part of a total of $8.7 billion awarded to Massachusetts through the new Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, which was created by ARPA. Find the tool at https://bit.ly/3j9h6vI.

Nationwide and Federal Updates

New Pandemic Relief Grants for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced new grants for arts and culture organizations and local arts agencies under President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Organizations can apply for grants of up to $150,000 and local arts agencies can apply for grants of up to $500,000 for subgranting. Read more at https://wbur.fm/3gQdIUX.

AAP Recommends That Kids Keep Wearing Masks

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) website healthychildren.org has a page addressing the question, “Does my unvaccinated child still have to wear a mask when the rest of the family doesn't?” The response is that children and adolescents who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 should continue to wear masks when social distancing isn't possible. Vaccinated adults and older children should consider modeling mask-wearing behavior in support. See the whole discussion at https://bit.ly/2RHpwyZ.

Cambridge Updates

Summer Food Program Starts Next Week

The Cambridge Summer Food Program will run from June 28 through September 3, 2021. Monday through Friday between 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM. Cambridge youth ages 18 and younger can pick up breakfast and lunch meals at locations throughout the city. Visit camb.ma/3xJbgoF for details.

Final Day of Cambridge Public Schools Nutrition Meal Kits Tomorrow

Cambridge Public Schools Food & Nutrition Services will be offering their last set of meal kits tomorrow, June 24, 201 from 9:00 - 10:30 AM. Meal kits include at least two days worth of breakfast and lunch meals and can be picked up at any of the following locations:

Baldwin
Fletcher Maynard
King Open
Haggerty
King/Putnam
Fresh Pond Apartments
Kennedy Longfellow
Peabody

Registration Opens Friday for Guaranteed Income Lottery; Info Session Tomorrow

On Friday, June 25, 2021, Cambridge RISE will open applications for its guaranteed income lottery. This is the first step in launching a pilot giving $500 recurring payments to single caretaker families in Cambridge. There is a virtual info session tomorrow, June 24, 2021 at 5:30 PM. Register at https://bit.ly/3zU6B5o.

Governor Baker Press Conference Updates

Baker Proposing Sales Tax Holiday Months for August & September

Governor Baker held a press conference today to announce his filing a bill to establish sales tax holidays for the months of August and September 2021. The Governor described the legislation as a boost to Massachusetts taxpayers and small businesses, noting that the state is benefiting from federal pandemic relief funds and consistently higher than projected tax revenues. The weekend of August 14-15 has already been declared sales tax-free. Many of the Governor’s recent updates are available at mass.gov/governor-updates.

MA Vaccination Updates

Pop-Up Vaccine Clinic at Boston Children’s Museum

The Boston Children’s Museum is hosting a pop-up vaccine clinic on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM for people aged 12 and up. Both the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available. Second Pfizer doses will be administered at the museum on Tuesday, July 20, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Registrations are encouraged at https://www.cic-health.com/childrensmuseum, but walk-ins will be welcome.

Market Basket Vaccine Clinics

There will be COVID-19 vaccine clinics set up in the parking lots of Market Basket stores in Chelsea, Fall River, Lawrence, Lynn and Revere on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week and next week. No appointment is necessary. Anyone who gets a shot at one of these clinics will also receive a $25 Market Basket gift card. See the full clinic schedule here: CIC-health.com/marketbasket.

CHA Offering Walk-In Vaccinations

The Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) is offering walk-in vaccinations at its three sites (176 Somerville Ave. in Somerville, Encore Boston Harbor in Everett and Tufts University in Medford, see https://bit.ly/3eM3TGF for locations and hours). These sites are open to all Massachusetts residents age 12 and older. They encourage people to pre-register here or via MyCHArt (for CHA patients), but walk-ins are welcome. As a reminder, only the Pfizer vaccine is currently approved for use in people under 18 years old, and minors must have a consent form signed by their parent or guardian.

Walk-In Vaccinations Available at Mass Vax Sites & CVS

Massachusetts residents age 12 and over can now get COVID-19 vaccines at all seven mass vaccination sites. People can still make appointments or see walk-in information at vaxfinder.mass.gov. Walk-in appointments are also available at the 389 vaccine-carrying CVS locations across the Commonwealth. Read more here.

Closing Dates for Mass Vaccination Sites

The Baker-Polito Administration has announced its timeline for ramping down mass vaccination sites. The upcoming planned closing dates at each site are:

Reggie Lewis Center: June 27
Doubletree in Danvers: June 30
Eastfield Mall in Springfield: July 6
Former Circuit City in Dartmouth: July 13

Cambridge Vaccination Data

The City of Cambridge has added Cambridge Vaccination Data to its COVID-19 Data Center. Data will be updated weekly on Thursdays at 6 PM. Information as of Thursday, June 17, 2021:

Residents who have received at least 1 dose: 79,701

Fully Vaccinated Residents: 71,401

Daily COVID-19 Vaccination Report

The Department of Public Health publishes a Daily COVID-19 Vaccine Report in addition to its Weekly COVID-19 Vaccination Report. Information as of Wednesday, June 23, 2021:

Total doses administered: 8,488,369

Total cumulative doses shipped to MA: 9,515,890

Vaccination Appointment Resources

Preparing for your Vaccination Appointment

Learn about how you can prepare for your vaccination appointment here.

Resources for Booking and Getting to Your Appointment

- Online: Find an appointment or see walk-in availability at vaxfinder.mass.gov/. You can also book directly with a pharmacy at cvs.com or walgreens.com or visit macovidvaccines.com, which is not an official site but is more user-friendly than the state site.
- Phone: Call 2-1-1 between 8:30 AM-8:00 PM Monday-Thursday or 8:30 AM-5:00 PM Friday-Sunday and select the prompt for “help scheduling a vaccine appointment.”
- In-Home Vaccinations: Anyone who is unable to get to a vaccine location can call the Homebound Vaccination Central Intake Line at 833-983-0485 between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday-Friday.

Need help? For detailed information about how to make an appointment, including updates about specific health care providers, see the Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services vaccine resources page. You can also visit macovidvaxhelp.com, which is an unofficial site staffed by volunteers for eligible individuals who are unable to book vaccine appointments on their own.

Need a ride? Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES) is offering free transportation for local adults aged 60+ to COVID-19 vaccination sites in Cambridge and Somerville as well as Fenway Park and CHA Malden. For more information, click here. To register for a ride, call SCES at 617-628-2601 or email info@eldercare.org.
- All MassHealth members or Health Safety Net patients can get free transportation to COVID-19 vaccine appointments. You can request transportation for a scheduled appointment by calling (800) 841-2900. You may find additional information on transportation help here.
The City of Cambridge has published accessibility information for the state’s mass vaccination sites. You can find it here.

Don’t forget to book your second appointment while you’re getting your first dose!

Vaccination Timeline

Massachusetts is currently in Phase Three of the vaccine rollout. Everyone age 12 and older is eligible for a vaccine. For more details and updates on vaccination priorities, please visit mass.gov/CovidVaccine.

COVID-19 Vaccination in MA: Eligibility

FAQs

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has a Frequently Asked Questions site that is continually updated as they receive new questions. You may access the FAQs here. Questions can be submitted to COVID-19-Vaccine-Plan-MA@mass.gov.

Today’s Case Count

Massachusetts

Total Cases: 663,400

New Cases: 68

Total Deaths: 17,618

Tests: 37,713

Cambridge

Total Cases: 6,055

New Cases: 0

Total Deaths: 123

The state has created an interactive dashboard, including the percentage of COVID-19 positive cases and testing rates by city and town. The dashboard can be viewed here.

For Harvard University COVID-19 information, click here. For MIT COVID-19 information, click here.

June Schedule for Cambridge COVID Testing & Vaccination Sites

Each site will offer both COVID-19 testing and COVID-19 vaccinations simultaneously for the month of June, while supplies last. These sites will only be using the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine, so you will not need to return for a second shot:

Wednesdays:

- 2254 Massachusetts Ave, St. John the Evangelist Church, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM.
Thursdays:
- CambridgeSide in East Cambridge, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM. (Drive-through testing by motor vehicle in the garage. Enter on First St. For safety reasons, this site cannot accommodate anyone arriving by bicycle or on foot).
Saturdays:
- 85 Bishop Allen Drive, Christian Life Center (owned and operated by St. Paul’s AME), 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM.
Sundays:
- CambridgeSide in East Cambridge, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM. (Drive-through testing by motor vehicle in the garage. Enter on First St. For Safety Reasons, this site cannot accommodate anyone arriving by bicycle or on foot).

No identification or Social Security number is required. All sites are wheelchair accessible.

Learn more at https://www.cambridgema.gov/covid19/Testing

Mental Health Services and Resources

If you or a loved one are struggling, please know that you are not alone. Here are some great resources:

Cambridge Mental Health Resources

National Mental Health Resources

Helpline for People Who Abuse

There is a new Helpline for People Who Abuse that launched on April 15, 2021, that came out of CARES ACT funding for COVID-19. The Helpline is currently open to any resident of western Massachusetts, however they plan to expand to more residents within the Commonwealth. This helpline is the first in the nation of its kind, and is based out of Western Massachusetts. You can find more information here.

Where to Give

On Fridays, Cambridge CoHousing will be collecting food either in a paper bag or small box for the Chelsea Food Collaborative. Drop off is between 9 AM and 2:30 PM at the entrance to CoHousing at 175 Richdale Avenue, Cambridge, MA. If you don't see someone at the moment you arrive, please leave it just inside the gate where we will have boxes marked "For Chelsea."

Transition House in Need of Emergency Donations:

If you are able to give to others during this time, I encourage you to look to additional places that are working to help those most affected by COVID-19:

I also encourage you to donate to the following organizations that are engaging in racial justice work:

As always, do not hesitate to reach out to me with questions or concerns at Marjorie.Decker@mahouse.gov.

Sincerely,

Marjorie