CORONAVIRUS

Donald Stern, a former U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, is the court-appointed claims administrator in charge of dispersing the $56 million settlement among residents of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home who contracted and suffered from COVID-19.

Following a CDC recommendation, Massachusetts is now allowing children ages 6 months to 4 years to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Unlike earlier rollouts, vaccines for the youngest kids in Massachusetts will happen more in doctors offices and less in retail pharmacies.

The settlement covers "veterans and the estates of veterans who lived at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in Massachusetts between March 1, 2020 and June 23, 2020 and who became ill or died from COVID during that period.

A little over half of the population in Hampden County has been vaccinated and boosted.

Musicians who perform live have had to reconsider how to make a living now that the COVID-19 pandemic has rewritten the rules of how people gather in public. Three performers based in western Massachusetts talk about what's changed and where to go from here.

In Massachusetts, some advocates want hotel-based shelters to become the standard, while others say the focus should be on creating permanent supportive housing.

In Massachusetts, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is ending its COVID-19 testing program.

An independent pharmacy in Springfield, Massachusetts has launched a COVID-19 rapid test center in the city's South End neighborhood.

The casino reported 1,203 employees — a 23% increase from a year ago. The rise was fueled by the hiring of more part-time and on-call employees. MGM has just 35 more full-time workers on staff than a year ago.