Health Archives - Page 19 of 31

Natick COVID-19 update: Youth vaccination numbers encouraging as school start looms

August 23, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The share of Natick’s eligible population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has surpassed 86%, bolstered by rising vaccination rates among the youngest eligible residents, according to weekly data released by the state. The percentage over 12-15-year-olds vaccinated rose from 78% to 80% over the past week, while more than 95% of 16-19-year-olds in Natick have been fully vaxxed.

This all bodes well as Natick Public Schools ready to reopen at the start of September, with new testing plans in place.

Now 74% of Natick’s population has been fully vaccinated, but that includes those under the age of 12 who are not eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations.

More than 26,600 of about 31,000 Natick residents eligible for the vaccine have now been fully vaccinated, and the state has surpassed 4.4 million fully vaccinated against the disease. More than 100 Natick residents joined the ranks of fully vaccinated over the past week.

Natick this month instituted a face covering mandate for those working at and visiting town buildings.

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Natick Fire offering free CPR classes

August 18, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

CPR classes are provided by the Natick Fire Department. The location of the classes has yet to be determined and will be emailed about a week ahead of the scheduled class time.

Please email Firefighter Alan Gentile at agentile@natickma.org with the date of the class you would like to attend.

August 18 CPR/AED 3:30 – 6:00 pm
September 14 First Aid 3:30 – 6:00 pm
September 29 CPR/AED 6:30 – 9:00 pm

More: The new West Natick Fire Station #4 is hot—and we got a tour

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Natick seeks trails, health volunteers

August 17, 2021 by Admin Leave a Comment

Natick’s Health Department is looking to fill 2 community at-large spots on the Natick 180 Steering Committee, while separately, the Conservation Commission is seeking applicants interested in serving on the Natick Trails and Forest Stewardship Committee.

While the types of openings appear on the surface to be quite different, creative minds might also find crossover between the 2 groups in need of volunteers in that they are in a broad sense both concerned with public health.

Natick 180 is a community coalition that addresses factors that contribute to addiction and builds up the community characteristics that protect against it. Filling community at-large openings will help to bring more perspectives to the group.

Candidates must live or work in Natick, and priority will be given to individuals who are in recovery from substance use disorder or who have otherwise been personally impacted by substance use.

Steering Committee meetings typically occur on the first Wednesday of each month 8:30-10AM. An additional 1-3 hours might be requested some months to address email communications, attendance at special events, and/or volunteer support at coalition activities.

How to apply:Candidates should submit a letter of interest to Katie Sugarman, Prevention & Outreach Program Manager, Natick Health Department. Letters can be emailed to csugarman@natickma.org or mailed to the Natick Health Department, 13 E. Central Street, Natick, MA 01760. There’s a rolling deadline until positions are filled.

The Natick Trails and Forest Stewardship Committee consists of nine members who are residents of the town and have an interest in Natick’s trail and open space system and/or related skills or experience. There will be one vacancy starting in September.

Interested parties should apply online and click the “Apply” button. For more information or questions please contact the Conservation Commission at (508) 647-6452.

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Natick COVID-19 update: Youngest eligible resident vaccination rate shows solid growth

August 16, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The share of Natick’s eligible population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has crept up fron 85% to nearly 86%, with the 20-29 age category now up to 70%, according to weekly data released by the state. Statewide, COVID-19 numbers have started to creep up, as the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus infects people, mainly those who are unvaccinated.

Now 74% of Natick’s population has been fully vaccinated, but that includes those under the age of 12 who are not eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Just over 26,500 of about 31,000 Natick residents eligible for the vaccine have now been fully vaccinated, and the state has surpassed 4.4 million fully vaccinated against the disease. About 100 Natick residents joined the ranks of fully vaccinated over the past week.

Natick is nearing 93% of its overall eligible population with at least 1 dose. State data shows the percentage of 12-15-year-olds fully vaccinated has risen from 75% to 78% over the past 2 weeks—that’s a relatively big jump this far into the process. No other age category has seen more than a 1% increase. Those in the 20-29 age range still have the most catching up to do, stuck at 70%—though 78% have now had at least 1 dose.

There are theories as to why this age category is behind, including that college students may have been vaccinated partially in Massachusetts and partially elsewhere or entirely in another state, and that the numbers haven’t been tallied the same as for other categories. There’s also concern nationally that this age group may not feel it’s at as much risk from COVID-19, and they’re not as influenced by parents to get shots as teens would be.

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Natick Public Schools: Masks mandatory to start the year; new COVID-19 testing program may debut

August 10, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Massachusetts Department of Education’s priority is to get all students back in classrooms for a full schedule, with lunches, for the 2021-2022 school year, and the job for Natick Public School and town leadership is to make that happen here logistically.

NPS Supt. Dr. Anna Nolin met with the Board of Health on Monday to present an update on her draft return-to-school plan, a copy of which has been shared with the public.

As is outlined in that document, the plan is to return to school with masks being mandatory for all when indoors, including on busses. The Board of Health confirmed that approach by vote at the meeting upon the recommendation of Health Director Jim White, who emphasized that this needs to be complemented by more members of the school community getting vaccinated. As he pointed out during a rundown of Natick’s latest COVID-19 and vaccination numbers, thousands of eligible school community members are still not fully vaxxed even as the Delta variant spreads.

“One of the ways we can protect the children who cannot get vaccinated right now is for everyone around them to get vaccinated….[the younger children] don’t really have any options right now,” White said. This approach should make teachers who have been hesitant to return more comfortable, he added.

Nolin agreed that masks are necessary, though also seeks the Board of Health’s guidance on how these and other mitigation measures might be phased in or out depending on the direction in which infection rates are going. “I absolutely agree on masking both from a health perspective and an equity perspective. Trying to make some people be masked and not others, who’s singled out and…I could just see a bullying situation on the rise. And my job is to eliminate that kind of thing…,” she said.

The Natick School Committee has received a steady stream of emails from parents regarding masks, and asked the Board of Health to stay in close communications as new decisions are weighed in light of changing COVID-19 and vaccination numbers.

Natick health and school officials have looked to see what surrounding communities are doing (Wellesley, for one, hasn’t pinned down plans yet), and the results are all over the map, as state agencies continue to roll out new guidelines and information.

Test and stay

One likely addition to supporting in-person learning is a “test and stay” program that the state’s education and health departments have begun talking about to health officials. White says the way this would work is that if a child is a close contact and unvaccinated, but is not symptomatic and tests negative every day, they can remain in school.

Nolin said she’ll be getting a full briefing on the testing system this week.

The pool testing program Natick took part in last year will again be available, with test kits and support provided by the state. The question is whether pool testing is worth the resources given today’s low infection rates locally.

White described running pool testing as “a bear,” and noted that just 1 positive case was detected during summer COVID-19 pool testing with 1,000 students. Still, White says pool testing “is not off the table” for the regular school year. If it were used, Nolin noted that getting participation from those who are vaccinated will be difficult unless students and families are given incentives like last spring, where you needed to take part in pool testing to participate in sports and other activities. White did say that given the very high vaccination rate among high school age residents in town, one approach could be to skip pool testing at the high school if the testing program is restarted.

Board of Health Member Karla Sangrey raised the idea that the school system should at least be prepared to mobilize testing right away if numbers jump.

Do you want to take over for Public Health Director Jim White? He’s retiring, and the listing for his job has been posted by the town.

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