Health staff opened the Sept. 9 Lawrence meeting with a public-health update urging residents to seek updated COVID vaccination in October to prepare for the fall and winter months. A speaker identified as health staff said Massachusetts was at the tail end of a summer surge and reported 1,100 documented cases and 132 hospitalizations in the prior week.

The speaker encouraged all eligible residents — including children older than six months, pregnant women, people at high risk, and adults over 65 — to obtain the updated COVID vaccine, noting vaccine access in Massachusetts is available without a doctor’s order and without charge at pharmacies. The speaker also said some federal guidance had limited access for adults over 65 in other contexts, but that the state of Massachusetts is making the vaccine available to anyone aged six months or older.

The health staff member recommended timing the booster in October to protect people through the "worst months ahead" and described personal experience of family members becoming ill during the surge. The department advised citizens to contact pharmacies or primary-care providers to arrange vaccination.