Top COVID-19 News

^{Amid the pandemic, news is fast-moving – and sometimes confusing. Coverage is here to help. Our new series provides a clear, fact-based digest of the top news for health consumers.}

Seniors 75+ begin getting vaccinated this week in Mass.

This week, Massachusetts vaccination sites began vaccinating residents over age 75, in addition to health care workers and others eligible to be vaccinated in Phase 1. Vaccinations are available at more than 120 health care, pharmacy and grocery locations, as well as some mass vaccination sites and local sites open to residents of certain towns.

How can you get vaccinated? Anyone eligible can make an appointment now via the Department of Public Health’s interactive map, though state officials note appointments currently are limited due to high demand and limited supply. The state’s largest health care systems also will opening their own vaccination centers for their patients and will be reaching out directly to patients who are eligible.

Johnson & Johnson vaccine clinical trial results

The pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson announced its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine was 100% effective at preventing COVID hospitalizations or deaths in vaccinated volunteers who took part in a massive clinical trial. It was 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe disease 28 days after vaccination, with rates lower in regions where a variant of the virus has taken hold. That rate is higher than the standard set last year for COVID vaccines by the FDA, although lower than those of authorized vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer.

What’s next? The company plans to seek authorization from the FDA early this month and, if successful, will begin shipping doses immediately. Public health experts urge the public to get vaccinated with any authorized vaccine, noting the benefits far outweigh the risks of the deadly virus. No one in the U.S. has died or been hospitalized with COVID after taking an authorized vaccine, while the virus has taken the lives of more than 440,000 Americans.

Home testing

The first FDA-authorized rapid at-home COVID-19 test will get a manufacturing boost from the Biden administration, which will help fund construction of a new U.S. plant. Ellume says its new U.S. factory will increase production capacity by at least half a million tests a day from the current rate of 100,000 .

What should you know about this test? The Ellume nasal swab kit can be completed at home and send results to a smartphone within 15 minutes. The company says its clinical study found 96% accuracy for both adults and children aged 2 years and over. This over-the-counter COVID test will be start to become available later this winter at retail outlets such pharmacies and is expected to sell for about $30.

COVID trends

The number of cases in Massachusetts hit a staggering 500,000 since the start of the pandemic, even as rates of infection, hospitalization and deaths are trending downward in the state while remaining elevated in the U.S. overall.

What can you do? As new, highly infectious variants of the virus spread, health officials are still urging the public to wear masks and follow physical distancing and other public health measures until at least 80% of the public is vaccinated.

Speeding up the vaccination process

Massachusetts expects to receive another 100,000 doses this week from the federal government, a 25% increase over the expected shipment. To help get those shots in arms nationwide, the federal government is authorizing any health care provider who has been licensed or certified within the past five years in any state to administer COVID vaccines in any other state, with some training and oversight.

How has Massachusetts been doing so far? About 6.7% of Bay Staters have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, ranking us 40^th in the country. State officials say the new vaccination sites and doses should help speed up the vaccination effort.