Cape and Islands State Senator Julian Cyr.
PROVINCETOWN – Cape and Islands State Senator Julian Cyr said that the recent Provincetown outbreak of COVID-19 has shown how vital vaccination is in mitigating both the spread of the virus as well as severity of its impact on the local community.
However, he also added that it will likely not be the last outbreak the region sees as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to spread.
Cyr has attended daily meetings with Outer Cape town and health officials on the continued cluster of cases associated with Provincetown with Provincetown State Representative Sarah Peake.
“We are in a fundamentally different place in dealing with the virus than we were pre-vaccination. Cape Cod is among the best vaccinated counties in Massachusetts. Provincetown actually has the highest vaccination rate in the state among its year-round residents,” said Cyr.
“While we’re seeing a number of cases, and a number of cases in vaccinated individuals, they’re symptoms are mild-to-moderate. Meaning you might get pretty sick, but you’re not seeing the hospitalizations that we would have seen before vaccination.”
Cyr said that vaccination remains the strongest tool in fighting the virus when it comes to preventing hospitalizations and death.
He said that renewed vaccination efforts in Provincetown due to the outbreak have resulted in more than 100 additional people vaccinated since the beginning of July.
Cyr said he’s also concerned with getting travelling workers vaccinated who may be arriving for the summer.
Recent figures from the town’s health officials showed that the COVID-19 positivity rate was around 6 percent, down from 15 percent mid-July.
According to Cyr, while the cluster is much less deadly due to vaccinations, local health officials are still treating the situation seriously.
He said that the cluster is an example of the reality of living with COVID-19 in the “new normal.”
“I expect that we’re going to see a similar level of cases begin to be seen across the Commonwealth. And we’re beginning to see those numbers. What we’re going through here on the Outer Cape and in Provincetown may be a bit of a prelude to what everyone else will be going through in this next phase of living with COVID-19.”
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