Updated 3:55 p.m.
Restaurants in Massachusetts can remain open past 9:30 p.m. starting Monday, when Gov. Charlie Baker will lift the current 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and stay-at-home advisory.
Baker said Thursday that positive COVID-19 test rates and hospitalization rates are going down enough to relieve some of the restrictions on movement and businesses.
"We all know that we are not out of the woods yet by any means, but things do appear to be getting a bit better here in Massachusetts," Baker said.
The rate of COVID-19 cases that result in hospitalization is down 10% since the peak of the second surge in January, Baker said. Likewise, the average positive test rate is down 33% since the beginning of January, and the seven-day average is down around 30% since the January peak.
"Vaccines are reaching residents, positive case rates and hospitalizations have stabilized. Those trends are moving in the right direction. As a result, we believe it's OK, and it's time to start a gradual easing of some of the restrictions we put in place in the fall," Baker said.
Capacity limits for most businesses open to the public will remain at 25% for an additional two weeks, ending Feb. 8.
Earlier in the day, Baker laid much of the blame for Massachusetts' COVID-19 vaccine woes on the slow trickle of supply coming from the federal government, amid criticism that the vaccines aren't being distributed widely enough in the state.
"The big thing is, we need more supply coming into the commonwealth, coming into all states," Baker said.
Baker said that in order to move the state's vaccination plan forward, the federal government and President Joe Biden's new administration need to make more supply available — either by enhancing manufacturing of the two vaccines that already have FDA authorization or by authorizing new vaccines for distribution.
"I want to give the Biden administration a couple of days here to get their feet on the ground, because I don't think there was the kind of connectivity that probably should have been there to get from the administration to the next on something that is as critically important as this is," Baker said.
Baker was at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, the state's first and currently only mass vaccination site, on Thursday to announce that home health care workers and medical staff not directly involved in COVID-19 care are now eligible for vaccination appointments. A second mass vaccination site will open at Fenway Park in Boston on Feb. 1, and Baker said more vaccinations infrastructure will come online over the next ten to 14 days.
"We'll continue to roll out additional capacity, but the speed with which we roll out the capacity is driven to some extent by what we believe the scenario is going to be with respect to how much additional vaccine we get from the feds," Baker said.
Baker also announced another 638 grants awarded to small businesses totalling $37.4 million in relief for companies harmed by the pandemic shutdowns.
