Town sees more than 60 new covid-19 cases in past week

Apr 22, 2021

Wareham remained in the “red” risk category this week, as the town saw another spike of 64 new cases of covid-19 in the past week.

Wareham’s average daily incidence rate increased to 31.9 cases per 100,000 people in the past 14 days, according to data from the state’s April 22 Weekly Public Health Report. Given Wareham’s population, this means there were about 7.34 new cases each day over the past two weeks.

Wareham has also seen a percent positivity rate — or the percentage of covid-19 tests performed that come back positive — of 6.81 percent over the last 14 days. 

A week ago, the state’s public health report indicated Wareham was seeing roughly 6.33 new cases each day and had a percent positivity rate of 5.84 percent.

The town has been classified “red” since April 8

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 1,619 coronavirus cases in Wareham.

Vaccines

Everyone over the age of 16 who lives, works or studies in Massachusetts is now eligible to be vaccinated against covid-19. Although Wareham has a privately-run vaccination clinic, the town’s vaccination rate lags behind some other Massachusetts communities. According to the state’s April 22 data, only 37.7 percent of Wareham residents have received at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine. That amounts to just 9,109 people.

Vaccinations continue at the clinic being operated by Southcoast Health at the Gleason Family YMCA, though the vaccine supply is dependent on the state and could vary from week to week.

Those interested in getting vaccinated at the YMCA can now sign-up as slots are available, either through their MyChart account or at www.southcoast.org/covid-19-vaccine-scheduling/, which does not require a MyChart account.

Those eligible for the vaccine can find appointments at other providers around the state using the state’s website vaxfinder.mass.gov/.

People over the age of 18 can sign up to receive any vaccine, but those age 16 and 17 can only get the Pfizer vaccine. 

Wareham’s Council on Aging staff has launched a hotline for residents who need help making a covid-19 vaccine appointment. Residents can dial 508-291-3100 Ext. 6530 from 8 a.m. until noon Monday through Friday and staff will assist with finding a mass vaccination site with openings and booking the appointment.

The state has also set up a call center for those who are eligible for the vaccine but are unable to access the vaccine appointment website or who have trouble navigating the complex online system.

From 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, people can call 211 and navigate to the vaccine help line by pressing two when prompted. The call center has workers on staff who speak English and Spanish, and there are translators available to support residents in about 100 additional languages.