Worcester Vaccinations Still Flat With COVID-19 In 'Rearview Mirror'

WORCESTER, MA — Three years ago this week, former governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts to slow the spread of the then-mysterious and deadly COVID-19.

This week, health officials in Worcester, and at higher levels of government, say COVID-19 has gone from being a pandemic to endemic — another disease we'll live with like flu, chicken pox and the common cold.

Dr. Michael Hirsh, Worcester's medical director, told the Board of Health Monday that a group of local communicable disease experts he's been meeting with since the start of the pandemic will stop meeting due to the endemic changeover.

COVID-19 is now "something we can live with," he said during the meeting.

As of this week, wastewater monitoring showed the Upper Blackstone Clean Water service area (includes Worcester and portions of surrounding towns) had about 648,512 copies of COVID-19 per liter of water. That's one of the lowest measurements over the past six months.

But one issue remains to work on from the COVID-19 pandemic: boosting Worcester's vaccination rates. Hirsh noted that Worcester's vaccination rates have been "stuck" in one spot for a long time, and booster rates are relatively low.

According to the state Department of Public Health, about 66 percent of Worcester residents as of March 1 had been fully vaccinated, meaning they had received the first two vaccine shots. That's lower than one year ago when the rate was at 67 percent on March 10, 2022.

The slight percentage drop over one year is due to an increase in Worcester's population, but the raw numbers have not gone up much: 136,173 residents had received two doses as of March 1, an increase of 8,358 people in one year.

Booster rates are much lower: as of March 1, only 37 percent of Worcester residents had the first booster, and 15 percent had a second booster dose.

"We haven't been able to move the needle, despite many efforts," Hirsh said.

Worcester Commissioner of Health & Human Services Matilde Castiel and her staff have been attempting to reach different populations in the city by enlisting religious leaders, and attending different civic and cultural events to discuss vaccine safety and efficacy. The effort has been dubbed the "trusted messenger" program.

The state has also offered incentives to residents to get vaccinated, including gift cards up to $75. Two years ago, Worcester held a contest where younger people — who were lagging in vaccine rates at the time — could win prizes like TVs and bikes.

The age groups with the lowest vaccination rates in Worcester include people age 5 to 11, 16 to 19, and 20 to 29.

Board of Health member Chareese Allen, an ER nurse, said she screens patients all the time who have not been vaccinated and hears a list of reasons why: not trusting the government, not trusting the vaccine itself or the process to get it.

Member Gary Rosen — who was a city councilor when the pandemic began — said the anti-vax movement has likely played a role. The nation's divide, he said, deepened when people turned masks and vaccinations into partisan issues.

Baker's state of emergency ended in June 2021, an initial sign the pandemic was fading. This month, the state's standby Stop the Spread test sites will go away for good.

Hirsh said health experts are already beginning to develop new vaccines for upcoming threats, including Ebola and the avian flu, which recently jumped from birds to mink on a farm in Spain. The efforts spent on the coronavirus pandemic will now be spent on preparing for the next one.

"Now that COVID is in the rearview mirror, it's our obligation for us to see how, if this came up again, how we could do better," Hirsh said.