Officials say ary1 percent of elementary students in Massachusetts have already received the flu vaccine, the highest rate in the country.
Still – in the case of COVID-19, the weather cools as children return to school amid concerns of a surge, and the approach to the flu season – the government. Charlie Baker says the state can “do a good job.”
“And we should,” Baker said during a press conference Thursday.
With the flu outbreak at CVS Pharmacy in Boston, the Republican governor has asked his administration to take care of children 6 months or older by the end of the year, pre-school, kindergarten, grade school in high school or college in Massachusetts.
Baker said his office fee has heard from health care providers that it would be difficult for the system to increase flu cases like many other potential coronavirus waves on multiple fronts at the same time.
“I know some people are upset by the fact that given the power we have under state law, we have a duty to ensure that children and college college students get vaccinated this year,” the governor said.
“I have to come back with a message that came from a community that really lined up for themselves in Massachusetts for the people here in late winter and during the spring, which was our health care community.” “We can do everything we can to ensure that people are vaccinated [for] The flu ensures that people here in Massachusetts can do what they need to do by their ability, the flu season and the likelihood of another outbreak, as well as what is possible. “
The Baker Administration rule, first announced last month, applies to full-time students under the age of 30 and to students under the age of 30, including full-time and part-time health science students in Massachusetts.
There are exceptions for students who only attend college online college colleges and never visit the campus in person, as well as home-school students and those who have medical or religious exemptions from the vaccine.
However, primary and secondary students in school districts using the remote learning model are not exempt due to COVID-19.
Massachusetts is the first state to announce such a requirement, which has faced some vocal opposition from parents and activists, arguing that it is tantamount to a government appeal. But Baker’s CIVID-19 declaration of a state of emergency gives him the power to make rules (which are the subject of litigation before the state’s top court).
Public health officials also say the need is a prudent policy to avoid “accidents”. And during a press conference on Thursday, officials expressed hope that it would save resources and hospital capacity for potential additional treatment in people infected with Covid-1, which has similar symptoms, but only prevents the flu.
The state’s health and human services secretary, Merillo Suders, said on Thursday that the flu season had killed more than 1,000,000 people with the flu and more than 600 deaths, usually rising in December. According to Suders, the state’s public health department has purchased 1.156 million doses of the flu vaccine this season, 28 percent more than the agency normally receives 900,000.
“We just say to all those in Massachusetts who respect and appreciate the heroic work you did last spring by many in our healthcare community, that for them and for you, you should go out and get the flu. The vaccine this year, “Baker said,” will increase the flu vaccine rate among students “to help children stay in school during the epidemic. “
“Helping children get back into the classroom and keeping them there is one of the most important things we, as adults, can do at this time in the ongoing fight against COVID.”
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