Health Care

Fitchburg, Framingham, Worcester State and their counterparts statewide will require students to receive COVID-19 vaccines this fall, they said in a joint announcement Friday.

People are on the move at Community Harvest Project, Nichols College, Country Bank and more.

For more than a month and a half, Saint Vincent Hospital’s administration and hundreds of nurses have been locked in a tense strike over staffing levels.

The 15 community college presidents comprising the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges issued a statement on Thursday urging their students and staff to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

In the same week that all Massachusetts residents 16 and older became eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, new case numbers showed encouraging signs everywhere from the city of Worcester to statewide.

Emergency department visits at Massachusetts hospitals fell 55% between January and April 2020, and as of last September were 24% below 2019 levels, illustrating how many would-be patients were staying away during the coronavirus pandemic.

Worcester, Framingham, Fitchburg, Hudson and Hopkinton are among 31 youth substance abuse prevention programs across the state sharing in $3.8 million in new state grants.

There will not be a uniform solution for every company in every sector, but consensus was clear: When it comes to retaining and supporting women in the workforce, the key is listening to what they need.

None of the leaders struck a celebratory tone, noting the conviction of one police officer was not equivalent to beating back systemic racism.

New coronavirus cases hit a two-month high in the week ending Thursday in Worcester and across Worcester County, posing a continuing public health challenge even as businesses reopen and far more residents are vaccinated.