The U.S. is approaching the goal of 70% of citizens vaccinated. Former FDA associate commissioner Peter Pitts thinks the nation can get it done with peer pressure and personal anecdotes about the joys of taking part in normal activities again.
Massachusetts' town-by-town coronavirus data shows no communities remaining in the red zone for COVID risk Thursday, down from one last week.
Moreover, there were just seven towns in the yellow zone: Brockton, Edgartown, Fall River, Lawrence, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and West Bridgewater.
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It's a stark change from January, when there were 229 communities -- more than two-thirds of the state -- in the COVID red zone. See this week's map here:
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Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, have fallen far enough that the state's COVID-related business restrictions ended on Saturday. The state of emergency declaration is set to expire June 15.
Meanwhile Thursday, state health officials reported another 241 confirmed COVID cases and seven more deaths. The new numbers pushed the state's confirmed case total to 661,635 and the death toll to 17,530 since the start of the pandemic.
On Thursday, Massachusetts' seven-day average of positive tests ticked down to 0.62%.
The number of patients in Massachusetts hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 cases fell to 203. Of those currently hospitalized, 69 are listed as being in intensive care units and 36 are intubated.
Health officials' projection of active COVID-19 cases decreased to 5,099 on Thursday from 5,431 on Wednesday.
More than 7.9 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Massachusetts as of Thursday, including over 4.2 million first doses and nearly 3.5 million second doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. There have been more than 253,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered.
Health officials reported that 3,716,710 Bay State residents have been fully vaccinated as of Thursday.
