Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative Launches Website

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative has announced the launch of a new website containing comprehensive information on how to access the Berkshire area COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

The new site, www.getvaccinatedberkshires.org, was developed to provide a consolidated resource with information about the COVID-19 vaccines, to provide resources on the state's Vaccination Phases and vaccine availability, and to aid the public in making appointments at the three large mass vaccination clinic sites in the Berkshires.

The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative has established vaccination sites in Pittsfield at the Berkshire Community College Field House, in Great Barrington at the WEB Du Bois Middle School and in North Adams at St. Elizabeth of Hungary's Parish Center. Vaccine clinics are now scheduled for early February to begin vaccinations for the first part of Phase 2, which includes anyone aged 75 and older.

The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative estimates that there are approximately 18,000 Berkshire residents who are 75 and older, and based on the current distribution of vaccine by the State of Massachusetts, it is likely to take several weeks before completion of Phase 2-A. Clinics will be held weekly based on availability of the vaccine from the Commonwealth.

The website will be updated regularly as more clinics are scheduled throughout February and the coming months and as the state continues to move through Phase 2 and into Phase 3, which is estimated to run through the remainder of winter and into the spring.

The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative is a partnership between Berkshire Health Systems, Community Health Programs, the Berkshire County Boards of Health Association and public health nurses.

The website is www.getvaccinatedberkshires.org.

 


Tags: BHS,   CHP,   COVID-19,   


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West Nile Found in Pittsfield Mosquitoes

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Pull down your sleeves and apply insect repellent: West Nile virus has been detected in mosquitoes collected from Pittsfield. 

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed a virus isolation at the Pittsfield Cemetery near the end of King Street, the city announced on Friday. 

There are no confirmed human cases, but residents are encouraged to take preventative actions. 

"WNV is most commonly transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito," according to a press release from City Hall. 

"The mosquitoes that carry this virus are common throughout the state and are found in urban as well as more rural areas. While WNV can infect people of all ages, people over the age of 50 are at higher risk for severe infection." 

To avoid contact with an infected mosquito, residents can apply insect repellent, wear long sleeves and pants, be aware of peak mosquito hours from dusk until dawn, and mosquito-proof their homes by draining still water and using screening. 

Pittsfield is continuing to work closely with the Berkshire County Mosquito Control project and other agencies. For mosquito control, the city is applying larvicide, conducting targeted education programs, distributing fact sheets on West Nile and on reducing exposure to mosquitoes, and treating catch basins.
 
Last week, it was announced that Northern Berkshire County saw the first West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes of the season in Massachusetts.  The State Public Health Laboratory confirmed WNV in a mosquito sample collected in Clarksburg on June 16. 

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