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Date: 1/18/2022
SPRINGFIELD – Amidst a surge of omicron cases, the COVID-19 Response Committee gathered to analyze the pandemic’s growing trends during their Jan. 13 meeting.
Health and Human Services Director Helen Caulton-Harris began the conversation by providing an extensive background of the city’s COVID-19 conditions. “In the city of Springfield, we continue to experience a COVID-19 surge,” said Caulton-Harris. The health director detailed the precipitous rise in cases, sharing that 2,441 positive cases occurred in Springfield during the week of Jan. 2 while the week of Dec. 26 featured 2,328 cases. By comparison, the month of November experienced a total of 1,859 cases before rising to 5,359 cases in December.
Caulton-Harris shared that the city’s vaccination rate remains at 60 percent compared to Massachusetts’ rate of 77.2 percent. Outside of efforts to vaccinate recently eligible children, she noted Indian Orchard, as a community, shows the most potential in vaccination growth.
“Indian Orchard has the greatest potential for vaccinations outside of children. The Hispanic, Latinx and black communities represent 75 percent of the unvaccinated individuals in Indian Orchard,” said Caulton-Harris. The health director also mentioned other areas like Liberty Heights, Sixteen Acres and the South End that feature disproportionate vaccination rates.
In an effort to improve the communal disparity, Ward 8 Councilor Zaida Govan said she and the Indian Orchard Citizens Council will host vaccination clinics on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Harris also shared that there will be local vaccination clinics in the South End Community Center, New North Citizens Council and throughout Springfield Public Schools.
Harris stressed that the city is also working to grow testing resources for citizens by purchasing 25,000 free testing kits for community members. After receiving kits from the state last month, Springfield will also receive 30,000 kits from the state in the near future, according to Caulton-Harris. Test kits are set to be distributed at the South End Community Center, Springfield Department of Health and Services Director, the Mason Square Library, Raymond A. Jordan Senior Center and the Forrest Park Library.
Readers can find the full schedule of when these sites are open to distribute test kits at https://www.springfield-ma.gov/cos/news-story?tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=15390&cHash=2f62e723e64ba87c46ccc4a1024de498.
After COVID-19 Response Committee President Jesse Lederman inquired about whether residency confirmation was enforced, Harris confirmed that proof of residency is now required to receive a testing kit after other communities became involved.
“As you know, one of the concerns was having residents come from surrounding cities and towns. They were told all you had to do was give a Springfield residence…we just assumed people giving a Springfield address lived in our city, but that was not always the case,” said Caulton-Harris. She expressed that federal identification, student identification and other proof of residency documents will be accepted at testing kit sites.
While the recent surge has caused concern, Caulton-Harris views the situation as temporary. She believes the surge will conclude sometime before the end of the month, noting a decrease in the city’s testing site at the Eastfield Mall and a plateau of cases in New York as byproducts of the decline.
“That’s the projection, by the end of January,” said Caulton-Harris.
Readers can discover more COVID-19 updates at https://www.springfield-ma.gov/hhs/.