Sign-ups for COVID-19 vaccine appointments at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital filled up fast Monday night with 544 appointments booked in 38 minutes, according to hospital communications specialist Marissa Lefevbre.
The hospital is dedicating Mondays at 5 pm and Saturdays at 8 am for vaccine sign-up. Sign-ups on Monday, March 8, at 5 pm were scheduled for March 11, 12, and 13.
The next available sign-ups are Saturday, March 13, at 8 am for appointments on March 16 and 17 and Monday, March 15 at 5 pm for appointments on March 18,19, and 20.
To sign up for a vaccine go to mvhospital.org and click the yellow bar at the top of the page. From there, follow the instructions for appointment sign up.
As of Monday, the hospital has administered 4,801 first doses of the vaccine. Of those 2,310 have received their second dose.
Superintendent Matt D’Andrea said at Monday’s Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) committee meeting that there will be a vaccine clinic for school staff on March 11, from 4 to 8 pm at the hospital.
In February, D’Andrea said, a survey was sent out to Island school staff to determine how many of them would be interested in getting vaccinated, with around 560 respondents confirming their interest.
According to D’Andrea, some school staff have already been vaccinated, “for one reason or another,” and now the hospital will allow staff to register for vaccinations whenever they are available.
There are 250 staff already registered for the upcoming clinic, and schools have put in a request for an additional clinic where another 250 will be vaccinated.
“We are waiting for the hospital to confirm that [second clinic] after they find out how much vaccine they will have,” D’Andrea said.
After the second clinic, he anticipates that almost all staff will be vaccinated who showed interest.
MVRHS principal Sara Dingledy thanked D’Andrea, the school committee, nurses, and the hospital for supporting schools in their efforts to “get kids back in the building, and get teachers feeling secure.”
The state is currently in phase two, step two of its vaccine rollout plan which includes individuals aged 65 and older, those with two or more chronic health conditions, and residents and staff of low income and affordable senior housing. State designated chronic health conditions are: asthma, cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, down syndrome, heart conditions, immunocompromised, obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease, smoking, and type 2 diabetes.
Educators and school staff were able to begin booking appointments for vaccines on Monday, but are not eligible to receive the vaccine until March 11, per state guidelines.
Following educators and school staff, the state’s list of eligible individuals includes, in order of priority: workers in transit, grocery, utility, food and agriculture, sanitation, public works, and public health workers. After that group will be individuals with one chronic medical condition.
One new COVID case Tuesday
The Martha’s Vineyard boards of health reported one new case Tuesday. The new case was from Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
The hospital has conducted 14,374 tests for COVID-19 since March. Of those, 664 have tested positive, and 13,668 negative. There are 35 tests pending results.
As of Tuesday, TestMV has conducted 34,547 tests since June. Of those, 258 have tested positive, 33,617 negative, and 672 are pending results.
The town of Aquinnah has conducted 442 tests, of which one has come back positive, 431 negative, and 10 pending results.
The Martha’s Vineyard public schools have tested 6,132 individuals. Of those, four have tested positive. The public school data is updated once a week on Mondays and this week there were no new cases.
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has reported a total of seven positive cases of COVID-19.
Due to how tests are conducted, there can be a discrepancy between the number of positive individuals and the number of positive tests reported.
On Friday, the boards of health reported there are only 16 active COVID-19 cases on the Island — down from 21 the week before.
The vast majority of COVID-19 cases have been reported since the end of October, when the Island’s first cluster of cases was linked to a wedding in October. Since then, the Island has seen 846 cases of COVID-19 — several times the 89 cases reported on the Island between when testing began in March and mid-October.
In addition to the wedding cluster, which reported eight cases, clusters at Cronig’s Market, with 19 cases, and a Bible study group, with 11 cases, a five-case cluster at the hospital, and a four-case cluster at Project Headway.
At the state level there were 892 new confirmed cases Monday. There are an estimated 27,369 active cases statewide. Massachusetts’ seven day average of percent positivity is 1.67 percent. On Monday there were 18 COVID-ralted deaths for a total of 16,103 since March 2020.
Reporter Lucas Thors contributed to this story.
