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At low risk now, but Springfield's health commissioner expects COVID cases to climb

A health care worker fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
Lynne Sladky
/
AP
A health care worker fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

City will offer $75 gift cards as vaccination incentive

The city of Springfield, Massachusetts is hoping to entice more of its residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as winter approaches.

Springfield has recently seen a decrease in new COVID-19 cases with 192 confirmed infections recorded during the week of October 16th, down from 328 new cases the week before.

“Our data is showing us that in our city our numbers are trending down,” said Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris. “I do not expect that is going to continue.”

In an effort to head off a surge in coronavirus cases over the winter the city is going to offer $75 gift cards as an incentive to people to get vaccinated, she said.

A COVID-19 vaccination clinic is held Tuesdays at the health department’s headquarters at 311 State Street. A pop-up clinic took place two weeks ago at Saint John’s Congregational Church in the city’s historically-Black Mason Square area where about 50 people were vaccinated, said Caulton-Harris.

“It is really good to see people took advantage of it,” she said. “It was held on a Saturday to make it hopefully very easy for people to show up and they did.”

Speaking at a meeting Friday of the City Council’s COVID-19 Response Committee, the health commissioner stressed that all age groups are now eligible to receive the latest COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.

“It is very important for those over the age of 55, who have chronic diseases, or are immune compromised,” said Caulton-Harris.

Since COVID-19 vaccines first became available early in 2021, Springfield’s vaccination rate has badly lagged the state as a whole.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Springfield’s current vaccination rate is 66 percent. It is 79 percent for white residents, 67 percent for Blacks, and 58 percent for Hispanics.

The low rates are not for lack of trying by the city’s public health professionals, said Caulton-Harris.

“Everyone has done a good job in really targeting underserved communities, communities of color…(but) there still are the conspiracy theories out there and those who do not believe in getting vaccinated.”

City Council President Jesse Lederman, who remained chair of the COVID-19 Response Committee, said he scheduled Friday’s meeting – the first held in several months – to get an update from Caulton-Harris on testing and vaccinations ahead of the winter months.

“As always, we will stay connected as any developments make come through,” Lederman said. “Folks are thinking about the winter ahead and we want to make sure they have all the information they need relative to any new variants ( of COVID-19) as we continue to navigate the landscape.”

Hampden County is currently at low risk for the spread of COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.