Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Brockton, Attleboro: where to live, home, to buy)

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by bohemka

I have relatives in eight different states, and these relatives are in the older/comorbidity zone. None have been vaccinated and don't know when they will be. What news are you getting?

We're talking relative of course. MA is in the lower half of vaccinated %. Even NY now is ahead since NYC started vaccinating 65+.

If there's states that are actually running low, that's good. It means they are getting shots in arms. That's how it should be. Just got to break the bureaucracy and get them more.

[bohemka]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

We're talking relative of course. MA is in the lower half of vaccinated %. Even NY now is ahead since NYC started vaccinating 65+.

I think NYC is ahead of most places. I have relatives in up state NY, over 90(!) and with cancer...no vaccine promised yet. Same (ages and comorbidities vary) for IL, WI, FL, GA, IN, CA, and here. But none are in healthcare.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by bohemka

I have relatives in eight different states, and these relatives are in the older/comorbidity zone. None have been vaccinated and don't know when they will be. What news are you getting?

Data here
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...ibution-doses/

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by bohemka

I think NYC is ahead of most places. I have relatives in up state NY, over 90(!) and with cancer...no vaccine promised yet. Same (ages and comorbidities vary) for IL, WI, FL, GA, IN, CA, and here. But none are in healthcare.

Should be able to sign up in Florida. Florida for awhile wasn't even checking residency so there might have been a bit of vaccine tourism, heh.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Full transition ? Interesting. Seems most in my sphere are being told ‘hybrid’ from here on out, largely because productivity has remained high with limited office usage and less than ideal childcare. It also means they can expand the job market as far as RI or even VT if employees only need to come in the office intermittently.

That's likely where we're heading too, but it hasn't been set in stone. "Full transition" is the language we've been using out of habit rather than what's likely to actually happen.

[BostonMike7]

A bit of positive new in this latest fall surge...

Cases seem to be dropping, deaths dropping, active cases dropping, hospitalizations seem to have flattened out.

Vaccine starting to get out, spring is 2-3 months away (and hopefully dropping cases as people get out). Hopefully this is the beginning of the end

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by lrfox

We're also looking at the option for hybrid schedules (I'd be all for that), or at least the ability to WFH occasionally as an alternative to using PTO (I'd be all for that too). If things look good over the next few months, we'll start offering staff the option to come into the office again in June/July, but September is still our target for a full transition back to the office.

Our transition to a permanent hybrid/WFH stems from the need of office space. All 3 of our MA facilities are at capacity, in terms of office and lab space. We've just grown in the last few years and have been hiring (even last year) and we are at the point where we either need to rent office space, or buy a bigger building and move. The prospect of converting existing office space to lab is very appealing.

We've had some prelim talks. I'd say about 50-75% of our employees are WFH right now, with only manufacturing and engineering going into the office (I'm the latter). Those cubes have been empty for almost a year and take up a LOT of space. We've outgrown our current lab, and looking for alternatives.

Right now one proposal is to build a sort of "reserve able cube" area where those who are WFH or Hybrid and don't need a permanent cube can reserve one on a day that they need to come in, for customer visits or critical meetings that need to be done in office. Still working through the details though as to the number of people who would be WFH/Hybrid and the number of flex cubes needed to support a rotating population coming in but we are discussing possibly eliminating 100-200 cube spaces (per building) and replacing that all with lab space, and making a 25 cube reserve farm.

All very prelim, but upper management and the CEO are on board with moving towards a permanent WFH/Hybrid policy. I have a number of coworkers I have not seen in almost a year, but we've been able to work effectively and the company has invested in remote tech to make our tasks easier.

I've been in office 2-3 days/week. I would love for this to continue. It's a great balance for me.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by bohemka

I have relatives in eight different states, and these relatives are in the older/comorbidity zone. None have been vaccinated and don't know when they will be. What news are you getting?

I'm now living in CT, just south of my dear old WMASS and in CT the over 75s are getting vaccinated! Around Hartford they've been getting their first vaccination for a few weeks and I know someone around age 80 who is getting hers today.

CT followed the CDC guidelines and is not messing around with prioritizing smokers or much of anything else. The only people who can sign up right now are the over age 75 people. Pretty soon it's going to go to age 65-74. Of course they did the nursing homes first but are still working on the assisted living people. Whatever the CDC recommended for essential workers, they've more or less done that too. Maybe it's because they simply stuck with the original guidelines?

Down in New Haven by Yale, there seems to be a shortage of the vaccine. The state is trying not to make any promises or sign people up until they are positive there will be enough vaccine for shots 1 and 2. They don't want what happened in NY (cancelling thousands of appointments due to lack of vaccine) to happen here.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

A bit of positive new in this latest fall surge...

Cases seem to be dropping, deaths dropping, active cases dropping, hospitalizations seem to have flattened out.

Vaccine starting to get out, spring is 2-3 months away (and hopefully dropping cases as people get out). Hopefully this is the beginning of the end

While we're far from out of the woods yet, agreed that Massachusetts is at least trending positive along several axes. Hope we/they can keep it all going in this positive direction!

[bizcuit]

Originally Posted by bohemka

I have relatives in eight different states, and these relatives are in the older/comorbidity zone. None have been vaccinated and don't know when they will be. What news are you getting?

My father is 88 and just got vaccinated in PA. The vaccine was only available to him at the VA, however. His local doctors and medical facility had no vaccines to distribute at all.