The state reported no new COVID-19 cases in Harvard for the week ending March 12. The last time there were no Harvard cases in the state’s weekly report was Oct. 8, 2021. The town’s cumulative number of confirmed cases remains at 562. For the week beginning March 21, the Harvard Public Schools reported seven students and two staff members absent due to COVID-19.
Between March 15 and March 21, the state reported 4,903 confirmed COVID-19 cases, up from 4,276 the previous week. Case numbers had been declining steadily week to week over the past two months. In addition, hospitalizations went up by 10 and the number of patients in ICUs increased by 11 for the week ending March 21.
According to the state’s weekly vaccination report, 4,614 residents in Harvard were fully vaccinated as of March 15, the same number as a week earlier. Another 536 had received one dose of a two-dose vaccine, and 3,077 residents had received a booster dose, three more than a week earlier. 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 March 15 remains at 85.9%, and the partially vaccinated percentage remains at 10%. These numbers do not include Devens residents or inmates at its Federal Medical Center.
On March 22 the Federal Bureau of Prisons website reported no new COVID-19 cases among inmates at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, three fewer than the previous week, and three cases among staff, one more than the previous week. Since the pandemic began, 393 of the current inmates and 188 staff have recovered from COVID-19; 13 inmates died of the virus.
