Peabody Coronavirus Cases, Vaccinations Rise Over 7 Days

PEABODY, MA — Both coronavirus case counts and vaccinations rose in Peabody in the past seven days amid a virus surge throughout the state and concerns over what the omicron variant will mean for the region through the holiday season.

Peabody's positive test rate rose from 6.48 percent last week to 7.38 percent as of Thursday, according to the state Department of Health. There were 611 cases over the past two weeks in Peabody, up from 469 over the previous 14-day span.

Peabody was part of the 70 percent of state communities that saw a continued rise in cases last week. The statewide positive test rate rose from 5.12 to 5.44 percent.

Vaccinations are also up in the city.

Peabody reported 77.7 percent of residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, up from 77.1 percent last week. Fully vaccinated residents rose from 69.4 percent to 70.1 percent.

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 5.03 million. Another 758,501 residents have received one dose of the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

Booster doses have been given to 1,701,821 residents.

Nearly three-quarters of the state's population, 73.5 percent, is fully vaccinated.

Peabody was one of the 102 cities or towns in the state set to receive a portion of the 2.1 million state-purchased coronavirus at home rapid tests ahead of the holidays.

On Thursday, the city outlined a distribution plan for the free tests.

The Department of Public Health reported 5,883 new coronavirus cases, 30 deaths and 57,531 vaccine doses administered Thursday.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 1,342.1, up from 1,099.4 the week prior. Over 1,400 people were hospitalized with the virus, as of Wednesday.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)