Page 45 - BusinessWest March 3, 2021

Among the many healthcare sector projects undertaken by Associated Builders in recent months was the construction of this Berkshire Facial Surgery facility in East Longmeadow.
the increases in materials costs, there are never any guarantees that they will, so we encourage people to move forward with projects — if it fits their timeline and their budget, because there are no guarantees.”
Meanwhile, COVID will likely impact the healthcare construction market in another way,
said those we spoke with, specifically the lasting impact it seems destined to have on the real- estate market. Even when COVID eases, they said, it seems almost certain that some com- panies will settle into smaller spaces as more people work at home, bringing more commercial real estate onto the market, which will, in turn,
impact new construction.
“Renovating existing space is almost always
less expensive than building new, especially when you consider those amazing price increas- es we’re seeing,” Bradbury said. “A lot of our busi- ness is new construction, and we’re contending with a lot of empty office space; long-term, there will be more available office space to lease on the market, which, across some industries, will tamp down new construction, but it will bring an opportunity for more build-out and renovation of existing space.”
Bottom Line
Looking back, and ahead, those we spoke with said a sense of normal — or a new normal (there’s that phrase again) — is returning to the healthcare construction scene.
But there are many question marks still loom- ing over the scene and a number of variables that could impact how much work and what kinds of projects move into the pipeline.
There has been a great deal of pivoting over the past year — for the construction firms and their clients as well — and there is certainly more to come.
But for now, momentum is building in a num- ber of ways. u
more people will feel comfortable with it. Knowledge is power.”
Better Days?
Bhadelia, who is also an assistant professor at Bos- ton University School of Medicine and has spoken
on CNN and MSNBC about the pandemic, said she’s optimistic about the fact that COVID cases in Mas- sachusetts have been trending down, while acknowl- edging that testing has also gone down in the Bay State during the vaccine rollout.
Still, she added, “there is a general consensus that it’s not only the testing that’s gone down; it seems there is truly a drop in cases.”
Concern lingers about the COVID-19 variants, which are currently circulating in Massachusetts, par- ticularly the South African variant, which may affect the efficacy of vaccines. But she noted that, even against that variant, vaccination will reduce the risk of severe hospitalization and death.
Taking a federal perspective, Bhadelia also praised the Biden administration’s approach to the vaccine rollout, which she said is science-based and features regular briefings. “The science is always changing,
so it’s really great to stay on top of it instead of just guessing at what’s behind the curtain.”
Most Americans, of course, just want to know what’s down the road. So does the governor.
“We want people to turn the corner on COVID, and I can’t tell you how much we would like to see that happen faster,” Baker said. “But to put to work all the folks who are available today to vaccinate our residents and dramatically increase the number of people able to get vaccinated each week here in the Commonwealth, we’re going to need to see a dra- matic increase in federal supply coming to Massa- chusetts.” u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
Vaccine
Continued from page 41
in public information around COVID-19.
Haessler detailed the amount of data that emerged
from clinical trials for the vaccines, and noted that the FDA will approve one only if the expected ben- efits outweigh potential risks.
“The FDA reviewed all the data — it’s pages and pages and pages of data — around every single thing they did in these clinical trials to be sure of the safety and efficacy of the vaccination,” she said, noting that multiple mechanisms are currently in place to track instances of side effects.
While significant side effects are rare — ana- phylaxis is one, which is why individuals receiving the shots must remain at the vaccination site for 15 to 30 minutes — most people experience nothing more than arm soreness, fever, chills, tiredness, and headache; most symptoms fade after a day or two, although they last longer in rare cases. Many people feel no effects at all.
“It’s certainly a lot safer to get the vaccine know- ing there are just minor side effects than to take your chances getting infected with COVID-19,” Haessler added. “The more people we vaccinate, the closer we get to herd immunity, and the closer we get to going back to life, where we can see our family and friends and return to pre-pandemic activity.”
Also in February, during the Massachusetts Medi- cal Society’s monthly COVID-19 conference call with DPH physicians, State Epidemiologist Dr. Catherine Brown talked about the DPH’s public vaccine-confi- dence campaign.
“The campaign recognizes that there are particu- lar populations, especially people of color and other minority populations, that may have understand- able increased concern about receiving the vaccine,” Brown said, noting that Public Health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel considers health equity to be a pri- mary priority. “Therefore, DPH is having additional, ongoing conversations about the best ways to try to improve vaccine confidence among some of these
groups that are harder to reach.”
At the same time, Haessler was quick to note that
the vaccine is not a license to stop doing the things that slow the viral spread. It takes about 10 days for someone to begin developing immunity after the first dose, and full protection doesn’t arrive until about 14 days after the second dose. But it’s still unknown how easily vaccinated individuals can spread the virus to others.
“The science is always changing, so it’s really great to stay on top of it instead of just guessing at what’s behind the curtain.
“The bottom line is, even though you’re vaccinat- ed, you still need to wear a mask, stay six feet apart, avoid crowds, and wash your hands frequently,” she explained, noting that vaccination is the last layer of protection, but far from the only one.
It is, of course, a critical one, and that’s a message she continues to spread to those who might be anx- ious about making an appointment.
“Educate yourself about vaccine safety and talk to trusted sources — your own personal healthcare provider as well as people you know who have been vaccinated,” Haessler said. “Many, many health- care workers in our community are vaccinated now because we went first.
“I think a lot of our healthcare workers were anx- ious at first, but as they saw their colleagues getting the vaccine and doing fine with it, they were excited, because now there’s a light at the end of the tunnel — there’s some hope that helped bolster confidence in it,” she went on. “The more we know about this, the
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