BOSTON — The Mayor of Boston is working to battle rising COVID numbers and prepare the city for the first doses of vaccine to start going out this month. At a briefing inside City Hall, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh told us they are discussing options on new restrictions if the rising numbers don’t begin to dip.
At the same time, the city is tackling how it distributes the vaccine once approved. Mayor Marty Walsh is making it clear his plan would try to include everyone.
“I think we should vaccinate everyone in the USA whether they are a citizen, undocumented. It’s about spreading the virus. That is ludicrous to say if you don’t have an ID you can’t get the vaccine,” Walsh said.
One key issue, like Governor Charlie Baker expressed earlier in the week, is getting everyone to understand the vaccine is safe and it is more effective if widely taken.
“We are already moving and working with our local community-based locations to understand the outcomes and challenges around people hesitating to take the vaccine,” said Walsh.
Hospitals in the city are seeing rising demand on ICU beds. The Chief of Boston’s Health & Human Services told us the 7 day average for capacity of ICU non-surgical beds is around 90%.
“We don’t want to see it that high. We want to see it lower. But our hospitals are managing that,” said Health & Human Services Chief Marty Martinez.
The Mayor told us meetings are underway to discuss what to do if the rising virus numbers don’t turn around.
“Our goal is to get these numbers down so when we do reopening something we don’t have to pull back on reopening,” Walsh said.
The Mayor also announced an ambitious plan to help restaurants in the spring get outdoor dining opening quickly even offering seminars in the coming months to help with the process. The goal is to start using public spaces for outdoor dining space as early as April 1.
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