MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: Surge In Cases Continues

MASSACHUSETTS — Massachusetts expanded eligibility for booster vaccines Thursday amid surging coronavirus cases across the state.

The coronavirus positive test rate rose above three percent statewide Thursday for the first time since February, according to the latest data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The state also reported over 3,000 cases in a single day for the first time in nine months, and public schools reported 3,815 staff and student cases over the last week, the highest weekly total on record.

Against that backdrop, the Baker administration opened booster doses to all adults, breaking with federal guidance.

Previously, in keeping with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, Pfizer and Moderna booster eligibility was limited to individuals 65 and older and younger adults who face increased risks from COVID-19 because of underlying medical conditions or because they work or live in higher-risk environments, and adults who got the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.

As federal regulators weigh eligibility expansions, some states, including Maine and Vermont, have already opened up eligibility across their adult populations.

The Baker administration said it "encourages COVID-19 boosters for all fully vaccinated individuals 18+." Adults can get a booster dose from any of the three manufacturers six months after their second Moderna or Pfizer dose or two months after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

As of Thursday's vaccine report, 4,820,267 Massachusetts residents are fully vaccinated and 860,474 have received booster doses.

Two-thirds of Massachusetts communities reported rising positive test rates over the last two weeks, according to town-by-town data released Thursday. Just 15 Massachusetts communities didn't report a single positive test over the last two weeks, level with the last report.

The Department of Public Health reported 3,196 new coronavirus cases, eight deaths and 48,672 vaccine doses administered Thursday.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 574.3, level with the week prior.

The weekly average case count was 1665.4 daily cases, up from 1646.6 last week at the beginning of the month.

The weekly average positive-test rate rose from 2.23 percent to 3.04 percent.

The lowest positive rate was 0.31 percent on June 25.

Only the death rate has yet to start rising. There were 8.1 deaths per day on average over the last week, down from 11.7 a week before.

Vaccines

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 4.82 million. Another 750,689 residents have received one dose of the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

Booster doses have been given to 860,474 residents.

Over two-thirds of the state's population,70.6 percent, is fully vaccinated, but some communities lag behind, according to state data. Nine communities continue to report that fewer than half their residents are even partially vaccinated, down two from the last report. Compare that with the more than 90 percent of residents fully vaccinated in 12 cities and towns.

How to use this map: Zoom in on the map below and click on a pin to see that community's coronavirus vaccination rates. You can also view the town-by-town coronavirus vaccination data in the spreadsheet we used to create this map.

Colors reflect the percentage of the population fully vaccinated, from under 50 percent, red, to more than 70 percent, green. The state did not report vaccination numbers for the two gray communities. Some communities are grouped together for the purpose of vaccination data.

Note: For dozens of communities, up to 30 vaccinations may be missing from the data, as the state does not report totals for demographic subgroups with fewer than 30 vaccinated. No vaccination data is available for one community with a particularly low population: Gosnold.

The data also does not include 977 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

Of 657 hospitalized patients, there were 132 patients in intensive care Wednesday, up one from a week prior.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 69 — or 19.7 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 242 — or 69.0 percent — of the communities. It held steady in the remaining 40.

Nearly three-quarters of communities reported positive test rates higher than 2 percent during the past two weeks, including 81 with test rates above 5 percent — up 38 with last week. The highest rate, 25 percent, was reported by Buckland.

Statewide, there were 23.0 average daily cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks, up from 18.2 in last week's report.

To date, there have been 826,996 cases and 18,834 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 113,617 new tests Friday, bringing the total administered to 32.6 million.

The data includes coronavirus cases for all Massachusetts communities, except for those with populations under 50,000 and where there are fewer than five cases. The department said the stipulation was designed to protect the privacy of patients in those towns and cities.

The state releases town-by-town testing data every Thursday, including the number of people tested, the testing rate, the positive test rate, cases and infection rates.

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