After a recent surge in Covid-19 cases on the Vineyard, health agents reported 73 new positive tests this week — a slight downturn from the week prior.
After a recent surge in Covid-19 cases on the Vineyard, health agents reported 73 new positive tests this week — a slight downturn from the week prior but continuing a major increase from earlier in March.
The 73 new confirmed cases came between Sunday, April 4 and Saturday, April 10, according to health agents. There have now been nearly 180 new Covid-19 cases in the past 14 days after 101 cases were reported last week — the highest total since the pandemic began.
Of the 73 new cases, 51 were tested at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, 18 at TestMV and four at other providers. Health agents said 54 of the cases are symptomatic patients, 10 are asymptomatic, and 14 are unknown.
There are currently 88 active cases of Covid-19 on the Vineyard. Health agents did not report any new clusters of the virus.
According to an online update from the hospital, two patients are currently hospitalized with the virus. Hospital officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the condition of the patients.
In an impromptu news briefing on Friday, hospital officials confirmed that three of the six samples sent to the state epidemiology lab for testing came back positive for the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the United Kingdom. Two of the six results are still pending.
The variant is more contagious and can lead to sicker patients than the original strain of the virus.
Meanwhile, an update on the hospital website said 598 vaccine appointments became available Monday afternoon for Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the upcoming week. Appointments were still available by 5:10 p.m. Monday.
Vaccine eligibility is set to expand to all state residents over the age of 16 on April 17, increasing the pool of eligible Island residents by approximately 9,000, according to census data.
The hospital schedules vaccine appointments bi-weekly, on Saturdays at 8 a.m. and Mondays at 5 p.m. Currently, eligible patients can go to mvhospital.org to schedule an appointment.
Online registration has been filling quickly, as all state residents 55 or older are eligible for shots and the hospital continues to receive about 1,300 vaccine doses per week.
The Island vaccine program has slowed since February, as federal supply chain issues and distribution priorities have hampered the rollout and left first-dose vaccine appointments in short supply. The hospital has stated that most of its state-allocated vaccine doses have gone to second-shot doses in the past weeks.
According to the state Department of Public Health, 44 per cent of Dukes County has received a first-dose vaccine shot. Nantucket and Barnstable lead the state, at 46 and 50 per cent respectively, with Dukes County trailing.
Comments
Multiple attempts on two
ML VHMultiple attempts on two phones to schedule an appointment at 5pm failed. We gave up at 5:18. How come you found them available at 5:10?
Folks should be aware that
Erich MenemshaFolks should be aware that the hospital signup system is fairly broken.. It WILL say there are no available appointments. After you click on the button anyway, you'll be led through the questionnaire, including the outdated criteria (last phase). Most likely it will tell you there are no available appointments again when you finish the questionnaire. Then the important part - You have to keep refreshing the page over and over again.. in my case after about five or six refreshes, I finally got my appointment scheduled today.
If I'd understood the above last weekend, I probably would have gotten an appointment then, but I stupidly believed that when they told me there weren't appointments, there actually weren't. It seems it isn't actually that there aren't appointments available, but that the signup system can't handle the volume. Best of luck everyone, and obviously your mileage may vary.
The hospital seems to be
Ron EdgartownThe hospital seems to be doing the best they can given that they are the only site able to administer the vaccine on the Island. I would expect the type of problems with their systems that you encountered when you consider that they have a hospital to run at the same time they are undertaking this massive effort. In light of that expectation, I would suggest people persevere in seeking an appointment exactly as you did. However, a better solution might be for the hospital to recruit local pharmacies to share the burden of administering the vaccine by sharing the hospital's allocation of vaccine with a few designated pharmacies. I realize that would not increase the number of vaccinations, but it would take some of the work load off of the hospital and give them some time to fix some of the glitches in their systems -- and to run a hospital.
Totally didn't mean to
Erich MenemshaTotally didn't mean to suggest the team aet the Hospital isn't doing the best they can, and definitely don't hold them to account for the IT part - who knows who is responsible for that.
As a follow up report - I just got my vaccine, and the process was a well oiled machine and everyone was very kind and helpful. Very well run operation.
Good, helpful info Erich.
JT MVGood, helpful info Erich. Thank you.
Very frustrating to use.
Brenda Oak BluffsVery frustrating to use. Please fire whoever created the program. The year round residents should not have to go off Island to get a free vaccine because it is not free to travel. I wonder if there should have been a proof of residency and then others could have been able to get it.
Please spend time finding and testing other programs for future use. Use the public to test it so that in the future you will have a better solution.
So your answer is to fire
Dreadlocks Oak BluffsSo your answer is to fire someone? Maybe learn some facts, first, before spouting nonsense. As of yesterday, 43.8% of eligible Massachusetts residents have had their first shot, 25.8% are now fully vaccinated. The national average is 36.4% eligible have has a first shot, and 22.3% have had a first shot (source: Washington Post national daily tracker). As cranky pants as many islanders are we're still doing better than the average state. Stop trying to fire people over your personal frustrations, Brenda. It's tiring to hear islanders whine about expecting to have the vaccine given to them on a silver platter. It's your choice to live on an island, to whine about seasonal folks, and to wait here for your free shot. Take a 7 mile ferry ride and you'll be amazed that Massachusetts is over there, with lots of openings. It is what it is. You can get frustrated, or you can take your healthcare into your own hands. Many of us don't whine, we do something.
We called MVH several times
MS WEST TISBURYWe called MVH several times about appointments and got nowhere. One rep even told us to call all the island pharmacies individually to see if they were offering the shot (of course no one I called is). Another said, "I don't know what to say. I'm not the governor." On a whim, we contacted CVS on the Cape and were able to schedule an appointment immediately. I encourage anyone seeking a vaccine to give that a try.
We just drove back from Florida where vaccines are widely available (even for walk-ups) and saw highway signs in Georgia among other states encouraging everyone 16 years and older to get their vaccination ASAP. Navigating covid continues to be chaotic and confusing, but maybe some of these other sites/states/stores can help MVH acquire more doses and better serve our population?
Best wishes to all. We're all in this together.
Give up on hospital vaccines.
Islander EdgartownGive up on hospital vaccines. Sign up at mass.gov and go to a mass vax site. Much faster and a safer bet that it will lead to vaccination. I tried here for many weeks, it was a complete failure and very time consuming and fraught with anxiety and frustration. It is shameful that we are all taking vehicles over on the ferry to get vaccines but this is our healthcare system at work. I suspect the power of the large hospital group that owns MVH could advocate successfully for more vaccines and provide a reasonable sign up system it the leaders answered to the greater public health, rather than the bottom line. Tie admin salaries to vax rates and only then will we know our hospital leaders have advocated for islanders health
This is so frustrating. Also
Geraldine Brooks West TisburyThis is so frustrating. Also got the "none available" message both Saturday and Monday after multiple attempts. As a result am taking my son off island for his 1st shot on Saturday, but not everyone can afford the time and expense. Please be more exacting in your reporting of this crucial issue and tell people what they need to know to get this done.
GREAT REPORTING GAZETTE!
GODSPAL MVGREAT REPORTING GAZETTE! INFORMATIVE AND POSITIVE. LET'S GO MV/USA, GET VACCINATED!!! LET'S ALL GET BETTER AT LIVING,LEARNING AND LOVING.GOD BLESS US ALL.
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