What is COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts?
The [[COVID-19 pandemic]] first started in [[Massachusetts]] in early February 2020. The first [[coronavirus disease 2019|COVID-19]] case was in [[Boston]]. That was February 1, 2020. From March 5, the number of COVID-19 cases began growing very rapidly. As of Sunday, February 6, 2022, about 22,600 people in the state of Massachusetts had died from COVID-19 or its related health effects.<ref>{{cite news|title=4,973 New COVID-19 Cases. However, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Again Go Down|url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/02/02/massachusetts-reports-4973-new-coronavirus-cases-covid-19-hospitalizations-go-down-again|access-date=February 6, 2022}}</ref> As of then, over 5.2 million people in the state were [[COVID-19 vaccine|fully vaccinated]]. Just over half of them had the booster shots.<ref>{{cite news|title=4,973 New COVID-19 Cases; However, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Again Go Down|url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/02/02/massachusetts-reports-4973-new-coronavirus-cases-covid-19-hospitalizations-go-down-again|access-date=February 6, 2022}}</ref> During the [[United States]]' 2021–22 winter, COVID-19 went up in the state almost four times that of the winter before (2020–21). By February 2022, however, overall rates started to fall again.<ref>{{cite news|title=Coronavirus in Massachusetts Report|publisher=The Berkshire Eagle|url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/coronavirus|access-date=February 6, 2022|archive-date=January 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126200337/https://www.berkshireeagle.com/coronavirus/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The February 6 statistics showed just under 1,502,250 cases in Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite news|title=COVID-19 Response in Massachusetts|publisher=Mass.Gov|url=https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-response-reporting|access-date=February 6, 2022}}</ref> The Massachusetts laws and rules stated that anyone over age five could get two shots. Only those age eighteen and older, however, can apply for and receive the boosters.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Massachusetts C