Health

COVID signs show improvement

Numbers run counter to out-of-control narrative

By , 0 Comments

THE COVID-19 situation in Massachusetts showed marked improvement on Tuesday, as the presence of the virus diminished and the vaccination push gained strength.

The positive signs seemed to run counter to the narrative playing out in the media and among Massachusetts elected officials over the last week suggesting both the virus and the attempts to vaccinate people against it were spinning out of control. Citing national metrics, pols and pundits blasted the Baker administration for its flawed vaccine rollout.

Perhaps the strongest critic was the Boston Globe’s editorial page, which gave the Baker administration an F on Friday for its handling of the virus and vaccine rollout, raised the grade to a D on Saturday, and then boosted it to a C on Tuesday. That’s a dramatic improvement in a short amount of time, suggesting either a dramatic turnaround or faulty initial analysis.

The latest numbers suggest the state is neither out of the woods on the coronavirus and the vaccine rollout nor falling way behind.

The Baker administration reported 967 new cases of COVID-19 and 49 deaths on Tuesday. It was the first time since early November that the case count dipped below 1,000.

The administration also reported that 861,859 people had received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 304,657 of them had received both doses. Overall, 76.4 percent of the 1,158,050 vaccine doses that have been shipped to Massachusetts have been administered, up from 67.3 percent on February 10, according to the Baker administration.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Massachusetts ranked ninth in the nation among states for single doses per capita. The state ranked 18th among states in doses per capita overall and 33d in two doses per capita.

Meet the Author

Bruce Mohl

Editor, CommonWealth
Bio » Latest Stories »

About Bruce Mohl

Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.

About Bruce Mohl

Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.

A New York Times data presentation indicated 13 percent of Massachusetts residents had received one shot and 4.1 percent had received two shots.

The Times presentation also showed how tightly packed the states are on the vaccine rollout. The national average for percent of residents receiving a single shot was 12 percent (Alaska was tops at 18 percent) and 4.5 percent for two shots (Alaska was highest at 8.3 percent). The national average on the percent of doses used was 77 percent (New Mexico was highest at 99 percent).

Tagged in: /