Good Afternoon,
Many questions are being asked about when vaccine will be available. Currently the State is still in phase 1 which allows for COVID facing health care workers, and first responders to be vaccinated, with non covid facing health care works to be the last group in phase 1. . Phase 2 is projected to start in early February. People with 2 commodities and people over the age of 75 will be included and projected to be in the first group in phase 2 . As this information is released to local Health Departments, we will notify the public accordingly.
People have also asked if the Health Department is tracking different strains of the virus. The answer is no. Local Health Departments do not do this. This work is done at the State and Federal level, as most communities do not have this capability. Contact tracers do record symptoms for the individual case files. The most up to day list of symptoms can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
It is important to remember that while vaccine is slowly becoming available, we all still need to take responsibiltiy and protect each other. SOCIAL DISTANCE, WEAR A FACE COVERING, WASH YOUR HANDS. Please also follow up with your health care provider as to see if they will have vaccine available. in the coming weeks and months. For more information on the vaccine, go to:https://www.mass.gov/info-details/when-can-i-get-the-covid-19-vaccine