The group of anti-vaxxers camped outside Mayor Michelle Wu’s home are going to have to admit sooner rather than later that her vaccination mandate for indoor venues is working to combat the latest COVID surge in the city.
Less than a month after the mandate went into effect the infection numbers in both Eastie and across the city have been on a steady decline. The city’s anti-vaxxers are going to have to come to the realization that the science is correct and being vaccinated against COVID is the best tool we have to end the pandemic.
Those still unwilling to get the vaccine should realize they are taking a big gamble with their lives by continuing to mix with the general public because the risk of severe disease among the unvaccinated is very real.
A month ago nearly 4 out of every 10 Eastie residents tested for the virus turned out to be positive but last week only 1.3 out of every 10 Eastie residents tested were positive.
Last week, 1,003 Eastie residents were tested for the virus last week and 12.8 percent were positive–this was a 38 percent decrease from the 20.6 percent that tested positive as reported by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) on January 31. The weekly positive test rate has now decreased 56 percent in Eastie since January 24.
One hundred twenty eight additional Eastie residents contracted the virus between January 31 and February 7 and there are now 13,987 confirmed cases in the neighborhood since the start of the pandemic.
The citywide weekly positive test rate also decreased last week. According to the BPHC 18,703 residents were tested and 10.6 percent were COVID positive–this was a 38 percent decrease from the 17 percent that reportedly tested positive for the week ending on January 31. The weekly positive test rate has now decreased 56 percent in Boston since January 24.
The statistics released by the BPHC as part of its weekly COVID19 report breaks down the number of cases and infection rates in each neighborhood. It also breaks down the number of cases by age, gender and race.
Citywide positive cases of coronavirus increased 2.2 percent last week and went from 157,675 cases to 161,136 confirmed cases in a week.
There were 32 additional deaths in Boston from the virus in the past week and the total COVID deaths is now at 1,656. Deaths decreased 11 percent in Boston last week–four less than the 36 deaths reported by the BPHC two weeks ago.