Natick Report

More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.

COVID-19 vaccine update: More than a quarter of Natick’s population has at least 1 dose

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More than 1 million Massachusetts residents have now been fully vaccinated, according to the state, and Natick is home to more than 5,200 of those people.

According to the state’s latest vaccine numbers, 28% of Natick residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine (this includes first doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or 1 shot of the single-dose Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine). Some 15% of Natick residents are fully vaccinated, which is in line with the state average.

The state also shares information on partially vaccinated individuals, and Natick has 14% of its population in that category.

The Natick Mall mass vaccination site has allowed residents to get shots close to home. Natick Health Department officials wish they could play a bigger role in dispensing vaccines, but the state has largely handed that role over to mass vaccination sites and commercial operators such as CVS.

Natick vax #s

All Massachusetts residents can preregister to book an appointment at a mass vaccination site at mass.gov/COVIDVaccine.  Appointments will be offered based on eligibility and available appointments nearby. It is expected that more sites will come online as part of the preregistration process in April.

Timeline for remaining groups:

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Natick Public Schools ready to navigate obstacles to achieve full reopening

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The Natick School Department and Board of Health have plenty of reservations about the state’s mandate for students at public schools to return to classrooms full time next month, but Natick Public Schools Supt. Dr. Anna Nolin says her team has been preparing all along for this to happen.

“I want you to know that we’ve been planning for school reopening since the fall, that it is always the Natick Public Schools’ greatest hope that we get students back in full live schooling as much as possible, but wanted to do so in a safe manner,” Nolin said at the Natick Board of Health meeting on March 9 meeting.

lilja tents

 

She had initially planned to attend that meeting to give an update on COVID-19 pool testing that Natick Public Schools has begun using, but her presentation expanded into laying out how Natick is readying for its transition from a hybrid learning model to a full return to classrooms, at least for K-8 students (week of April 5 for elementary school, week of April 26 for middle school, unclear on high school).

The pool testing, which started last week and is funded by the state for the first six weeks, is among the key mitigation efforts designed to make a full return to school work as some mitigation efforts are loosened (e.g., social distancing of 3 rather than 6 feet in some situations). More than 90 volunteers, largely vaccinated medical personnel, are essentially running the program day to day, with oversight by the school’s nursing department, with Nolin’s support on the back end for logistical support. The state has also supplied medical services employees through a vendor partnership to support the program.

The pool testing—at what Nolin calls the “70% sweet spot of participation” so far—complements other mitigation efforts, from hand washing and social distancing, to air filtration and ventilation as well as plexiglass barriers on desktops. Natick Public Schools have boasted no in-class spread of COVID-19 among adults or students, and overall just 2% of students and 3% of faculty/staff have reported infections. NPS is exploring how to approach pool testing once the free pilot period is done, and Nolin said there are other pool testing options that could be more cost efficient if the schools decide to keep going with it for the rest of this school year or at the start of next school year.

Despite the pool testing and other approaches being taken by NPS, the Board of Health and Health Department expressed reservations even while recognizing that the schools have no choice but to reopen.

See also: Wellesley Board of Health: Benefits of returning to classrooms outweigh the COVID-19 virus risk

Public Health Director Jim White aired worries about the students, but even more concern about the adults who will be around them given that vaccine rollouts to them have only just begun (parents have been helping teachers book vaccination appointments, a grateful Nolin said).

“There has been so much effort put into this hybrid model and it actually has been working exceedingly well for the town of Natick, and to change things at the end of the school year…it just boggles my mind that they want to change right now when the entire school year is coming to an end,” White said. (Of course some would argue that while Natick has done its best to accommodate students and families, including those going full-remote, the mental and physical health of students will still benefit from them getting back into school in light of the latest scientific and local data about how COVID-19 really spreads.)

Nolin says planning has been put in place to ensure maximum safety under the circumstances, and acknowledges there are gray areas that still need to be addressed, including how lunch will be handled. The superintendent said there’s “immense push and pressure” from parents, for example, for traditional year-end celebrations to take place, but it’s unclear how that will be handled safely.

Certain classes, such as physical education and music, might need to be rethought. “There’s lots of other ways you can teach music. We have a robust percussion program. God help us all for all the drumming that will happen,” Nolin said. NPS may also wind up renting space to accommodate students under social distancing guidelines.

One frustration, Nolin said, is the role that the Health Department will be able to play related to NPS moving forward under state rules. The Board of Health could shut down the in-classroom operation of schools, but the school system would have to make up for any lost time through the summer or next year.

“Regulatory changes have been made that make this not a possibility for me to ignore the mandate, and so I need your partnership in the safest return to school that I can possibly do,” Nolin said. “We can do anything that we set our minds to I am sure, and parents are going to be able to make decisions about their students’ participation in live school or not.”

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Natick School Committee meeting: Pool testing to start on March 1

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Natick School Committee meetings are typically all-business affairs, but a little bit of glee crept in when Superintendent Anna Nolin reported the latest on pool testing during the committee’s Feb. 23rd meeting. Not only is it game on with the state program, which Natick will participate in six weeks for free, but Nolin happily let the SC know, “The Department of Education permitted 15 staffers to come to work for us” at no cost to Natick.

Natick High School

That means more highly qualified hands on deck, in addition to the 30 medical professionals in the community who have volunteered their time and skills for the program. Natick applied last month to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE) to be considered as a pool testing community. Pooled testing from a public health perspective means combining approximately 10 – 25 respiratory swab samples into a batch (or “pool”) and then conducting a single laboratory test on the combined pool of samples to detect COVID cases. Pool testing allows labs to test more samples with fewer testing materials. If a pooled test result comes back negative, then all the samples can be presumed negative with the single test, and the individuals tested as part of that pool may stay in school. If the pooled test result comes back positive, then each of the individuals in the pool who provided a sample will need to be tested individually to determine which samples are positive.

Nolin said a concern for families that came up during community forums was that students who were in a positive pool would be removed from school and told to quarantine, even if they were not infected with COVID.

“If your child is in a positive pool, we then execute reflex testing in that group within a 15-minute time period to know who in the pool is infected. There’s no need for anybody to be out of school unless they are confirmed on that reflex test to be positive,” she said.

State staffers came to town and started on-boarding on Feb. 24, and it’s expected that the first session of pool testing will take place on Mar. 1. Those staffers will get the program rolling, while community volunteers will learn by shadowing them. When the six-week part of the program ends, Natick will go forward with volunteers and the district’s own staff.

What about returning to school full-time?

There’s no question that everyone is anxious for students to resume full-time in-person learning. That’s the Holy Grail of public school education right now.

However, Nolin noted that health conditions today are exactly as they were in the fall. “The rates of infection are now mimicking where they were when we went back to school,” she said. In addition, the CDC still recommends 6-feet distancing, so space constraints in the schools haven’t gone away. “Plus, no one is vaccinated,” she said.

Full-time, in-person learning could happen, but not immediately. By April? If teachers get vaccinated? Maybe? Well, let’s just say nobody’s willing to make any promises. Pool testing is expected to help in that kind of decision-making process by providing data-driven baseline information about the current school landscape. From there, that data will be used as a tool to make decisions about what the rest of the school year should look like.

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Live from Natick Mall vax site: Gov. Baker & friends

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Gov. Charlie Baker took his pandemic road show to Natick Mall’s appointment-only mass vaccination site on Wednesday, where he gave the latest update on the state’s COVID-19 and vaccine situation.

natick mall gov baker

 

He was joined by a rep from LabCorp, the company running the vaccine site, which looks to ramp up from vaccinating 100 per day to 5,000 per day seven days a week by April. The LabCorp rep doled out kudos to Natick police and fire personnel.

From the Governor’s office:

Vaccination Appointments: Thursday, Feb. 25, around 50,000 new appointments will be added at mass vaccination locations across the Commonwealth. This includes the mass vaccination locations at Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, Springfield, Danvers, Dartmouth and Natick. Retail pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens will also administer over 20,000 doses next week as well.

Residents can go to www.mass.gov/COVIDvaccine tomorrow morning to find and schedule their appointments. Appointment availability is very limited due to the constrained supply of vaccine doses that the Commonwealth is receiving from the federal government. 

More: Natick health director lauds mall vaccination setup, still wishes his team could play bigger vax role

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Natick Common to be site of Floral Heart Project honoring COVID-19 victims

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On March 1, Natick Common will be one of more than 75 sites across the country displaying a large heart-shaped garland of roses in recognition of those who have lost their lives to COVID-19.

The virus has claimed more than half a million lives in the United States, and five times that around the world.

The six-foot floral monument will be laid in Natick Center at 5pm on Monday, March 1, according to Natick resident Janice Vaughn, who reached out to the Floral Heart Project to bring the initiative here. It will remain on the Common until 5pm on March 8 as a symbol of remembrance for lives lost and support for those suffering.

“Our hope is that this memorial will serve as a sign of community support and be a place for all to share a memory, a prayer, or an intention,” Vaughn says.

Vaughn says she heard about the project from a friend in NYC and that it really touched her.  “With this pandemic continuing to take lives, I feel like the stats are the news; the human tragedy at each of our doorsteps is incomprehensible – and, in the meantime, daily, people are suffering devastating loss alone and with limited, if any, family and community support,” she says.

Like others, Vaughn’s family has felt the immediate effects of COVID-19 in terms of difficulty visiting older family members and supporting younger family members dealing with the challenges of remote school.

The vaccines bring Vaughn hope, though she worries about the longterm effects of the pandemic. “I fear for all those who are grieving a loss alone, knowing their loved one died a beyond terrifying death alone.  I wonder if the repercussions of over one-half million deaths will be with us for a very long time in terms of mental health and sustained grief… That’s why I think small efforts like the Floral Heart Project are essential.”

Vaughn says the town has asked her not to encourage a big crowd on the Comon for obvious reasons, but she’s hoping people will have a chance to stop by while the display is there.

The Floral Heart Project began in New York City by artist Kristina Libby, and has been supported around the country by florists and volunteers.

Floral Heart Project

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