The state reported 29 new COVID-19 cases in Harvard for the five weeks ending July 30, bringing the town’s cumulative number of state-reported cases since the pandemic began to 744.
The percentage of the 5,373 Harvard residents eligible for the vaccine (5 and older) and fully vaccinated increased from 87.1% to 88% over the five weeks ending Aug. 1; the partially vaccinated percentage increased from 9.7% to 10.2% over those same five weeks. Also during that time, the total number of residents with at least one booster increased by 60 and is currently 3,359. The state is now also reporting the number of residents with a second booster, 992 in Harvard. Vaccination numbers in the state report for Harvard do not include Devens residents or inmates at its Federal Medical Center.
On Aug. 9 the Federal Bureau of Prisons website reported two new COVID-19 cases among inmates at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, down from 13 the previous week. There were two new cases among staff. Since the pandemic began, 382 of the current inmates and 233 staff have recovered from COVID-19; 13 inmates died of the virus.
The Press is no longer reporting the number of new cases, hospitalizations, or deaths reported by the state each week. The state’s COVID-19 response website now updates those numbers weekly on a Thursday after the paper goes to press. In addition, case numbers reported by the state do not include people who tested positive with an at-home test, making the numbers less meaningful than they used to be.
