Massachusetts COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends Today

The COVID-19 public health emergency comes to an end on Thursday — on both the state and federal levels — and many consider the expiration to be a symbolic ending to a pandemic era that upended lives, sickened hundreds of millions and had stubbornly long impacts on everyday life.

Massachusetts public health officials addressed earlier this week how the Bay State would move forward into the next phase of COVID-19.

Top Boston doctors discuss the end of state and national public health emergencies related to COVID-19 and what that means moving forward during the final episode of this series.

"This is not the end of the pandemic, this is not the end of COVID, this is the end of the emergency phase," Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robert Goldstein said.

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The end of the emergency declarations mean some policy changes, including on masking in health care settings and vaccine mandates for executive branch employees.

The World Health Organization made a big declaration Friday about the current state of COVID-19.

The public health emergency allowed resources like testing, vaccines and treatments to be mobilized and provided for free. For now, much of that will continue; Goldstein said officials are working to keep vaccinations accessible and available, and that staying up to date with vaccinations remains the best way to prevent getting sick from COVID in the future.

Massachusetts is lifting broad mask mandates in medical settings, instead leaving that decision to individuals.

The move garnered mixed opinions from industry stakeholders across the state. Hundreds of health care workers, patients and caregivers signed an open letter last month criticizing the move, calling it "dangerous" and "unethical."

As of 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Tufts Medical Center said that for the first time since March, 21, 2020, the hospital has no COVID-19 inpatients — marking a big milestone for the hospital in the pandemic era.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands people are expected to be booted off the state-run health insurance program over the next year as federal continuous coverage requirements for Medicaid in place since March 2020 expire and the state goes through the required redetermination process for the first time since the pandemic began.

As part of the transition to the next phase of life with the virus, Gov. Maura Healey is rescinding a Baker executive order that required executive branch workers to get at least their first COVID-19 vaccination shots or secure a medical or religious exemption. That policy prompted a legal fight with the State Police Association of Massachusetts.