The state reported 10 new COVID-19 cases in Harvard for the week ending Dec. 4, bringing the town’s cumulative number of confirmed cases to 251. For the week beginning Dec. 13, the Harvard Public Schools reported eight students absent with COVID-19, 11 students in quarantine, and three staff members who were either in quarantine or had contracted the virus.
According to the state’s weekly vaccination report, 4,384 residents in Harvard were fully vaccinated as of Dec. 7, up 128 from Nov. 30. Another 633 had received one dose of a two-dose vaccine, 176 fewer than on Nov. 30. 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 Dec. 7 is 81%, and the partially vaccinated percentage is 12%. These numbers do not include Devens residents or inmates at its Federal Medical Center.
Statewide, between Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 30,999, slightly higher than the previous week’s increase of 30,106. As of Dec. 13, 1,410 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide, up from 1,151 a week earlier; 304 patients were in ICUs, 65 more than the previous week. There were 153 COVID-related deaths between Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, slightly lower than 160 the previous week.
On Dec. 14 the Federal Bureau of Prisons website reported no cases among inmates at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, and five cases among staff there, one more than last week. As of Dec. 14, all of the facility’s inmates had been fully vaccinated, as had 443 staff members. Since the pandemic began, 339 of the current inmates and 91 staff have recovered from COVID-19; 13 inmates died of the virus.
