After almost a year of publishing statistics on COVID-19 infection and deaths, the state Department of Public Health has begun releasing a new, more hopeful report — statistics regarding those who have been vaccinated against the virus.
Last week, the Department of Public Health released its first COVID-19 Vaccination Report, which will be published on a weekly basis. The report details how much vaccine the state has administered, basic information about who has been vaccinated, and how the doses are divided by county.
As of Dec. 24, the state has administered 35,524 first doses of the vaccine, according to the report. The two available vaccines by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna require two doses, administered three and four weeks apart, respectively, to achieve maximum immunity. With vaccine rollout just beginning in recent weeks in Massachusetts, none have received the second dose as of the report.
The state has received 59,475 cumulative doses from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, and 87,200 from the Cambridge-based Moderna, totaling 146,675 cumulative doses.
Among those to receive a dose in the first phase was Anna Henry, a lactation counselor at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Henry was chosen at random from a pool of employees working in direct-contact patient care.
The vaccine itself felt like the equivalent of a flu shot, Henry said, describing it as a “quick prick.” Henry had a sore arm afterward, but as of Monday this had subsided.
“It was kind of a relieving feeling,” she said. “I guess I was feeling excited, somewhat rewarded for all of the work that I’ve been doing since this pandemic started, still going into the hospital weekly.”
Henry said she was confident in her decision to take the vaccine after seeing others receive it without issues.
“I thought it was very important, seeing as I’m in patient care, working very closely with patients,” she said. “Any risk that I saw was definitely outweighed by the benefit.”
Henry advises those who are conflicted about the vaccine to “put themselves in the shoes of a health care worker and think about what they’re doing to keep them safe and healthy,” and to discuss any medical concerns regarding the vaccine with their primary care physician.
So far, 1,800 of these doses have been shipped to providers in Hampshire County, which can cover 1.1 percent of the population; 6,825 to Hampden County, covering 1.4 percent of the population; and 500 to Franklin County, covering 0.7 percent of the population.
Franklin County providers have so far received the lowest number of doses as a percentage of the county population, according to the Department of Public Health’s report. Suffolk County has received the highest, at 6.2 percent.
Hospitals have administered 74 percent of doses so far. The distribution of vaccine is currently based on the number of health care facilities present and their size, according to a state spokesperson.
Those between the ages of 30 and 49 comprise the largest age group of those who have been vaccinated so far, according to the state report, having received 15,681 doses. Following behind this age group are those aged 50 to 69, who have received 13,235 of the doses administered so far. People aged 20 to 29 have received 5,896 doses; ages 70 and older have received 715; and those ages 19 and under have received 91.
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.