Massachusetts public health officials confirmed no new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, as the state reached a major milestone in its vaccination effort: 3 million people vaccinated.
It's just the third time the state has reported no COVID deaths in a day since deaths were first reported in the commonwealth, according to Massachusetts Department of Public Health records.
A total of 3,005,473 people have been fully immunized in Massachusetts, according to the department. Gov. Charlie Baker is aiming to reach 4.1 million fully vaccinated by the beginning of June.
Nearly 6.9 million total doses of COVID vaccines have been administered in Massachusetts as of Tuesday, including nearly 3.9 million first doses and nearly 2.8 million second doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. More than 225,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered.
Baker discussed Massachusetts' COVID drive Tuesday with President Joe Biden and five other state governors, including Janet Mills of Maine. Biden said Baker had "done a helluva job" after Baker discussed his administration's strategy.
Tuesday's report on the daily COVID metrics noted 472 confirmed cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state at 654,108, while the death total held at 17,344, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Another 354 deaths are considered probably linked to COVID.
The last time the state reported no new deaths was June 30. The only other time came the day after the first death was confirmed.
And Tuesday was the fifth day in a row that newly confirmed COVID cases were under 1,000.
Many of Massachusetts' COVID metrics, including the average number of coronavirus cases, average coronavirus test positivity and average number of confirmed deaths reported each day, have been falling since the end of March, according to trends posted to the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard.
The seven-day average of positive tests on Monday ticked up to 1.32%.
Health officials' projection of active COVID-19 cases decreased again to 17,519 from 18,441 on Monday.
The number of patients in Massachusetts hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 cases increased, to 441. Of those currently hospitalized, 117 are listed as being in intensive care units and 76 are intubated.
