Chamber News

Boston Herald – Moderna is bolstering its coronavirus vaccine manufacturing efforts with an agreement with Baxter BioPharma Solutions to provide fill and finish services for 60-90 million vaccine doses this year. “We have seen a remarkable demonstration of scientific and health-care expertise in the effort to develop vaccines for COVID-19,” said Marie Keeley, vice president of…

Who can get the vaccine now?  Adults age 65-plus and people with two or more serious medical conditions. People who accompany those 75 and older to one of the state’s mass vaccination sites can also be immunized if they make an appointment. Each older resident is limited to one guest who can receive a vaccine. Health care workers, long-term care facility…

NBC Boston – In one week, Massachusetts is expected to move into the final phase of its reopening following last year’s coronavirus shutdowns. The state moved into Phase 3, Step 2 of the four-phased reopening on March 1, and Gov. Charlie Baker has said that provided public health metrics continue to improve all communities in Massachusetts will…

MassLive – Massachusetts public health officials on Sunday reported that 1,508 more residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and another 30 have died from the virus. Since the pandemic hit the U.S. about a year ago, at least 568,616 Bay State residents have tested positive for the coronavirus and 16,311 have died, according to the state Department of…

State House News – The unemployment rate in Massachusetts fell to 7.8 percent in January, and revisions to 2020 estimates have pinpointed the highest spike of pandemic-era joblessness to last April, labor officials announced Friday. The January rate dropped 0.6 percentage points from the revised December rate of 8.4 percent, and it stands 1.5 percentage…

Boston Globe – Child-care providers, whose shoestring survival has been tested by the pandemic conditions of the past year, are not only getting a belated lifeline from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan but also a sudden show of appreciation for their essential role to the economy. The beleaguered Massachusetts child-care system is expected to reap…

State House News – The new federal stimulus is expected to funnel billions of dollars to Massachusetts for state and local government aid, education and transportation funding, and direct payments to more than three million families. Passage of the American Rescue Act that will provide state governments with direct federal aid for the first time…

Boston Globe – Governor Charlie Baker has been called to testify at a second legislative oversight hearing exploring Massachusetts’s COVID-19 rollout, according to state lawmakers, who intend to drill down into his administration’s decision to entrust a handful of private companies with running its seven mass vaccination sites. The March 23 hearing will explore what lawmakers…

Boston Globe – More than 400,000 Massachusetts residents pre-registered for COVID-19 vaccine appointments by Friday evening, even as the state sought to do more to reach people of color and immigrant communities. Launched around 3 a.m. Friday, the state’s new preregistration site prompts users with a series of questions to sort eligibility, and takes just a few minutes…

New York Times – President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan on Thursday, enacting a nearly $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package with benefits including another round of stimulus payments, an extension of unemployment benefits and generous tax breaks to low- and moderate-income people. When will my stimulus check arrive? The Treasury Department said that stimulus payments began arriving in bank…