Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Springfield, New Bedford: houses, buy, construction)

[charolastra00]

I am trying to get access to a blood test to see if my vaccine "took" due to my blood cancer history. I'll be wearing masks for awhile yet... but I'm also allergic to everything outdoors in halfway decent weather so the masks help my allergies.


Many of my close friends are people I have met through the young adult illness community. Two friends with kidney transplants have been tested by their transplant teams only to find they had little to no response to the vaccine due to the anti-rejection meds they're on. A covid diagnosis for them is spoken of as a "donation rejection" sort of event, so it's imperative to me that if I want to spend time with them that not only can I only be around people who are vaccinated, but we all need to be masked as well.

[BostonMike7]

Traffic has been terrible this week. I do the I-95 stretch from Peabody to Bedford. My AM commute has gone up by 10-15 mins and my PM commute is almost back to pre-pandemic levels.

Office parks near me are still pretty empty, so not sure where the volume is coming from, but I’ve had to make an adjustment to my commute schedule.

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Traffic has been terrible this week. I do the I-95 stretch from Peabody to Bedford. My AM commute has gone up by 10-15 mins and my PM commute is almost back to pre-pandemic levels.

Office parks near me are still pretty empty, so not sure where the volume is coming from, but I’ve had to make an adjustment to my commute schedule.

Are the traffic bottlenecks identical to pre-pandemic or is the traffic heavy but coming from different locations?

[NewfieMama]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Traffic has been terrible this week. I do the I-95 stretch from Peabody to Bedford. My AM commute has gone up by 10-15 mins and my PM commute is almost back to pre-pandemic levels.

Office parks near me are still pretty empty, so not sure where the volume is coming from, but I’ve had to make an adjustment to my commute schedule.

I've noticed the same thing.

Last fall I signed up for a class I love that starts at 6pm and is an hour away from my house without traffic (mostly highways). I was grateful the lighter traffic allowed me to take the class without signing off of work before 5pm.

I had to end the class about 3 weeks ago because traffic was getting significantly worse and I can't just sign out of work at 4:30 once a week. I was bummed, but it was nice while it lasted!

Also, we went to Nantucket last weekend and the ferry was sold out both ways. We got tickets in advance, but the person at the ticket counter said visitors to the islands has picked up significantly. I definitely expected things to get back to something closer once vaccinations rolled out, but I'll miss the lighter traffic and fewer people out!

[msRB311]

I'm surprised to hear ferry tickets to Nantucket were sold out both ways already. It's still only may. Looks like it's going to be a very busy summer travel wise.

[robr2]

The intersection of 128S at Rt. 3 in Burlington is back to it's usual backup almost all the way to 3A. I've sat in PM traffic on 128N from Waltham to Burlington. 93N out of Boston towards 128 has been heavy.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

Are the traffic bottlenecks identical to pre-pandemic or is the traffic heavy but coming from different locations?

I’d say prepandemic bottlenecks. Specifically I95 right at I93 where it goes from 4 lanes to 3 and also at Rt3 burlington.


We are not quite back to “normal” levels of traffic but it’s definitely gone up this week.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I'm surprised to hear ferry tickets to Nantucket were sold out both ways already. It's still only may. Looks like it's going to be a very busy summer travel wise.

We booked our trips in Feb and a lot of prime spots on the cape or up in NH/ME were already booked solid. I’ve never seen it fill up so early with regard to some of our usual locations of choice

[msRB311]

My parents have a place on the cape, they said it hasn't been that crowded yet but they're not really going anywhere except their house. I remember last summer we went to wequassett to eat outside for my bday dinner and we were shocked at how crowded it was. It was like the pandemic didn't exist. I kind of figured it would be less crowded than usual but inside and outside was crowded and the resort was booked. The Monday after I found an article that someone working in the kitchen had covid and the place had to close for the next few days. Oy.

[Amontillado]

Originally Posted by msRB311

So people who have been fully vaccinated - are you still worried about getting covid?

Somewhat, but it's mostly based on the possibility that a variant will come along that can beat the immunization. As far as picking up what we have around here right now, no, I'm feeling pretty safe.