Massachusetts has hit Gov. Baker's vaccination goal. But concerns remain

BOSTON — Massachusetts on Tuesday eclipsed the Baker administration's goal of 4.1 million residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19, although less than half of residents are fully vaccinated in two of the state's counties.

Gov. Charlie Baker set the goal early on in the state's vaccination push and initially hoped to reach it by early June.

The state's daily vaccination report for Tuesday, June 22 showed 4,104,162 people fully vaccinated, up from 4,095,494 in the Department of Public Health's vaccination report issued on Monday.

The percentage of individuals with at least one dose of vaccine administered exceeds 60% in all of the state's counties except two. According to the Department of Public Health's most recent weekly vaccination report, 54% of residents have received at least one dose in Bristol County, which includes the cities of Fall River, New Bedford and Taunton. In Hampden County, which includes the cities of Holyoke, Springfield and Westfield, 52% of residents have received at least one dose.

In both Bristol and Hampden counties, less than half of individuals are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Also, the emerging and spreading Delta variant of COVID-19 remains a major concern across the United States, and a particular concern in areas with lower vaccination rates.

"It spreads much more efficiently than the virus that we've been used to over the last several months to a year," Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden's chief medical adviser, told CBS This Morning on Wednesday. "And also data from the UK indicate that it also is more dangerous in that it makes you more seriously ill."