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Date: 1/5/2022
NORTHAMPTON – The Northampton Senior Center will require guests to complete the COVID-19 vaccine series plus the booster shot – if eligible – in order to use the facility after a vote of approval during the Dec. 28 Northampton Board of Health meeting.
On Dec. 2, the Board of Health voted 3-1 in favor of requiring proof of vaccination for individuals using the Northampton Senior Center. Originally, residents were required to complete the primary, full series of COVID-19 vaccines 14 days prior, and the Board of Health left the booster shot as a recommendation.
“What early evidence was starting to suggest was that both delta and omicron required the vaccine dose to really be protected,” said Health Director Merridith O’Leary. “We were kind of hoping that the CDC would be changing their definition [for fully vaccinated], but they haven’t yet, so I think because we know that vaccines are our most powerful and effective tool in our arsenal…that it’s our duty to change that definition in the policy we created, because the mRNA series of two doses – especially for our high risk population – isn’t cutting it.”
According to O’Leary, the city of Northampton has 2,030 total positive cases since March of 2020, as of press time. On Dec. 22, the city had its largest number of cases on any given day, with 44.
Comparatively, the most cases Northampton had on any given day during the surge at the end of 2020 was 23. With limited testing resources during the holiday season, as well as a bevy of gatherings happening, O’Leary anticipated an even larger rise in cases over the next few weeks.
Additionally, the city’s incidence rate has doubled over the past two weeks, with 59 cases per day per 100,000 people during the time period of Dec. 13 and 26, compared to 39 cases per 100,000 in the two weeks prior.
The positivity rate at Cooley-Dickinson has also seen a sharp rise at 10 percent, which is exactly where the hospital was at a year ago during the previous major surge. As of Dec. 28, there were 18 positive COVID-19 inpatients, which was alarming, according to O’Leary.
“It is not business as usual,” said Board of Health Chair and Cooley Dickinson Medical Director Joanne Levin, when talking about the situation at Cooley. According to Levin, who also serves as a Board Certified Infectious Disease Consultant at the hospital, Cooley has also canceled certain surgeries to free up beds, and they have cut down the number of outpatient procedures to relocate staff elsewhere in the hospital.
As of press time, the Northampton Senior Center requirement will go into effect on Jan. 17. The Board of Health did also conduct a meeting on Jan. 3 to determine whether or not the city will implement a vaccine requirement within certain businesses and restaurants. After 77 public comments during the Dec. 28 meeting, the majority of which were against the requirement, the board decided to hold off on the decision until Jan. 3 and then continued the conversation again to Jan. 13.
Individuals entering the Senior Center must pursue the booster shot six months after receiving the second dose of Pfizer and Moderna, or two months since receiving the Johnson & Johnson.