Boston coronavirus cases rising among people under 30, Kim Janey says

The coronavirus is again spreading rapidly among young people, acting Mayor Kim Janey said as the city prepares a campaign aimed at cutting transmission rates among the youths.

“More than half of in the cases in the past two weeks come from Bostonians under the age of 29,” Janey told reporters in a press conference Friday morning at the Roxbury YMCA. “We must all continue to practice the practices that keep us safe.”

Boston COVID-19 case numbers have started to nudge back up after dropping significantly, though deaths and hospitalizations remain headed in the right direction at this point. Health Chief Marty Martinez told reporters later that the city will roll out some new messaging targeted at young people — 20-somethings, really, where there’s a particular uptick — over this weekend.

The city will announce more messaging campaigns encouraging young people to stick it out with safety protocols for another few months, and the administration will reach out to colleges, restaurants and other organizations where the young’uns gather to remind them of the restrictions that remain in place as the weather turns nicer and vaccines create more optimism.

“We will provide information and engage those who may be working with younger populations or connected to younger populations, to help them understand the importance of doing everything to keep themselves safe so that they don’t continue to spread this virus around,” Janey said in the press conference. “I am looking forward to the day when everyone would be eligible and that we have enough supply to get everyone in the city vaccinated.”

Vaccine registration will open up to the general public on April 19.

Janey is wrapping up her first week as acting mayor after now-Labor Secretary Martin Walsh left the big office in City Hall on Monday night.

Janey also announced that she was getting her first vaccination shot on Friday. She said she was eligible because she has been volunteering at a vaccine program at Martin Luther King Towers, a Boston Housing Authority senior-living facility.

“I’m choosing to get a shot because vaccination is an important tool to protect ourselves, to protect our communities and all those that we love,” Janey said.

Janey also announced the creation of the Vaccine Equity Grant Initiative, through which $1.5 million to “nonprofit organizations working to increase vaccine access and awareness for communities disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The cash will be given out in $100,000 to $250,000 chunks, with a focus on organizations that aren’t yet receiving grants from the city. Further priority will be given to partnerships between a vaccine provider and a nonprofit, so they can provide “clinical services and wrap-around services.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3cr3VlR