Thursday, December 23, 2021
Due to increasing public health concerns amid the current surge in COVID-19 cases locally and regionally, as well as the spread of the more infectious Omicron variant, Mayor-elect Katjana Ballantyne is moving Somerville’s January 3 Inaugural Ceremony to virtual and the reception will be postponed and transformed into a Civic Celebration in the spring.
"Our community should be so proud that as of last week, 67,703 of us were either partially or fully vaccinated. But we are now facing a surge fueled by both the Delta and the more infectious Omicron variants. So we need to each do our part to get safely to the other side of this,” said Mayor-elect Ballantyne. “The City can contribute to that by moving these large events to virtual out of an abundance of caution and following the data and the science to guide our policies and actions. The community can help by wearing masks when indoors in public, getting vaccinated, and by all means get boosted to increase your protection. That’s important for you, for the people around you, and for our unbelievably hard-working healthcare workers who are already struggling to keep up. If you need help making a vaccine or booster appointment, please call 211 or 311. Our celebration can wait, and once we get through this, it will be all the more meaningful to gather with one another."
