Gov. Charlie Baker removes his mask as he steps to the microphone during an April 26, 2021 press conference. Photo by Jessica Rinaldi | Boston Globe Staff/Pool
People who have been both vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 face an “extremely low” risk from the fast-spreading omicron variant, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday as he defended his resistance to mandating mask-wearing or reimposing other mitigation measures.
Top-ranking Democrats in the legislature are unhappy with Baker’s approach to the ongoing COVID-19 surge fueled by the omicron variant, calling for him to pursue more stringent options such as requiring schools to opt out of pooled testing programs rather than opt in.
Senate President Karen Spilka on Tuesday urged Baker to replace his newly revived mask advisory with a full mandate requiring, rather than just recommending, individuals to cover their faces in indoor public spaces.
Her suggestion did not gain any traction with the Republican governor, who replied Wednesday that he believes “the policies we’ve put in place and the protocols we’re pursuing at this point in time are the right ones.”
Legislative leaders, who plan to meet in lightly attended informal sessions until early January, so far have communicated no interest in forcing additional action through votes. Two key Democratic senators said Wednesday that it is “the Governor’s responsibility” to use his executive powers to impose temporary public health measures.
Baker noted in a GBH News radio interview that mask mandates are still in place in several settings, including nursing homes and schools that have not secured vaccination-based waivers relieving them from the requirement.
“In some respects, what we’ve tried to do with our strategies generally now that we have 5 million people in Massachusetts who are vaccinated and almost 2 million people who are boosted — and we have rapid tests — is to recognize and understand that our strategy at this point is sort of layered and multi-dimensional,” Baker said.
“There are going to be a lot more cases because omicron is very contagious, but people need to understand that the vaccines and the number of people in Massachusetts that have gone out and gotten vaccinated and gotten boosted — their risk is extremely low,” he later added. “It’s important for everybody to understand that vaccines and boosters are in fact doing exactly what they were supposed to do, and they are our best defense.”
Work is underway to open a booster shot clinic in January at Fenway Park, which last year served as a mass vaccination site in the initial vaccine rollout. Baker said Wednesday that the most significant challenge to booster clinics is finding available staff, which is “part of the reason why some of this might happen a little bit after the holidays as opposed to before.”
The administration does not have any plans in place to open a similar booster clinic in western Massachusetts and will instead look to relaunch a regional collaborative that had previously been in place in Berkshire County.
