State health officials on Friday reported that 1,343 Massachusetts residents have newly tested positive for COVID-19 and 15 more people have died from the virus.
There are currently 519 people in the hospital with the virus, with 144 in intensive care and 82 who are intubated. Of those hospitalized, 180 were reported to be fully vaccinated against COVID, according to data from the Department of Public Health.
Comparatively, the state on Thursday reported 1,267 more cases of the virus and 20 more confirmed COVID deaths, as well as 532 people in the hospital with the coronavirus. Hospitalizations have been hovering in the 500s recently.
So far through the pandemic, at least 786,143 Massachusetts residents have tested positive for the virus and 18,520 have died.
The seven-day average of positive COVID cases is 1.78%, still higher than the low of 0.31% seen in June but a figure that has been dropping since the resurgence of cases over the summer.
A total of 17,969 more vaccine doses have been administered since Thursday. So far in Massachusetts, 306,177 booster doses have gone out, according to DPH.
The Baker administration on Friday announced that residents can now access Moderna or Johnson & Johnson boosters following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, more than 750,000 Massachusetts residents are newly eligible for booster shots under federal eligibility criteria and two more state-sponsored COVID-19 booster locations are scheduled to open in Brockton and Danvers.
On Friday, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said the vaccine for children 5 to 11 is safe and highly effective, according to documents posted by the Food and Drug Administration.
In Worcester on Friday morning, city officials remembered 453 lives lost to COVID with a display of roses at City Hall as they urged unvaccinated residents to get the shot.
Hopkinton High School has become the first in Massachusetts to drop a mask mandate. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is requiring masks in school through at least Nov. 1 but is allowing an off-ramp earlier for schools that demonstrate vaccination rates of 80%.
So far this school year, the percentage of COVID cases among students and teachers has been low. From Oct. 14 to 20, a total of 1,804 students and 350 school staff members tested positive for the virus, rates of 0.20% among students and 0.25% among staffers.
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