The state reported 12 new COVID-19 cases in Harvard for the week ending Nov. 27, bringing the town’s cumulative number of confirmed cases to 241. For the week beginning Nov. 29, the Harvard Public Schools reported three students absent with COVID-19, five students in quarantine, and two staff members who were either in quarantine or had contracted the virus. Numbers for the week beginning Dec. 8 were not available as of press time.
According to the state’s weekly vaccination report, 4,256 residents in Harvard were fully vaccinated as of Nov. 30, up 63 from Nov. 23. Another 809 had received one dose of a two-dose vaccine, 23 fewer than on Nov. 23. Using the town clerk’s Nov. 8 population data, the percentage of Harvard residents eligible for the vaccine (5 and older) and fully vaccinated as of Nov. 30 is 79%, and the partially vaccinated percentage is 15%. These numbers do not include Devens residents or inmates at its Federal Medical Center.
Statewide, between Nov. 29 and Dec. 6, confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 30,106, higher than the previous week’s increase of 16,448. As of Dec. 6, 1,151 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide, up from 906 a week earlier; 239 patients were in ICUs, 49 more than the previous week. There were 160 COVID-related deaths between Nov. 29 and Dec. 6, up from 94 the previous week.
On Dec. 7 the Federal Bureau of Prisons website reported no cases among inmates at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, and four cases among staff there. As of Dec. 7, all of the facility’s inmates had been fully vaccinated, as had 443 staff members. Since the pandemic began, 340 of the current inmates and 88 staff have recovered from COVID-19; 13 inmates died of the virus.
