Mass. reports a rare day of zero COVID deaths, as number of fully vaccinated crosses 3 million mark

A nurse at a vaccination site in Haverhill took a break between administering shots to patients.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

Massachusetts reported zero new confirmed coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, in the latest indication that the coronavirus pandemic is loosening its deadly grip on the state.

The state has not seen a day when zero coronavirus deaths were reported since last year. The seven-day average of deaths dipped Tuesday to seven from eight the day before.

The state also announced that more than 3 million people had been fully vaccinated against the virus.

The state remains in a struggle with the coronavirus more than a year after it arrived. But thanks to the state’s vaccination campaign, millions are now protected and recent coronavirus numbers have been trending downward.

The Department of Public Health also reported 472 new confirmed coronavirus cases, with the seven-day average edging down to 734 from 770 the day before. The new confirmed cases brought the total number in the state during the pandemic to 654,108.

The DPH said 17,519 people were estimated to have active cases of the potentially deadly virus, and 441 confirmed coronavirus patients were in the hospital.

The DPH also reported that 41,692 more tests had been conducted for coronavirus. The total number of tests administered climbed to more than 22 million. New antigen tests were completed for 3,661 people, bringing that total to 1,242,761.

The DPH reported that the seven-day average rate of positive tests, which is calculated from the total number of tests administered, was at 1.32 percent.

The department said the rate would be 2.23 percent if the effect of college testing programs — in which asymptomatic people can be tested repeatedly in an effort to rapidly identify new cases — is factored out.

The fully vaccinated number — people with either two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer two-shot vaccines or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine — rose to 3,005,473.

The state’s daily vaccination report defines people as “fully vaccinated” if they have received the full number of shots. However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it doesn’t consider people “fully vaccinated” until 14 days after their final shot because it takes time for the vaccine’s protection to kick in.

The latest state report said the total number of coronavirus vaccinations administered during the state’s high-stakes campaign had risen by 56,959 to 6,849,573.

The number of new vaccinations reported Tuesday was slightly larger than on Monday, when 54,137 were reported.

The total number of shots administered amounted to 83.8 percent of the 8,172,240 doses shipped to providers in the state so far, the DPH said.

The total shots administered included 3,844,100 first shots and 2,779,983 second shots of the vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer. It also included 225,490 shots of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Governor Charlie Baker touted the state’s vaccination campaign Tuesday during a remote meeting with President Biden and several other governors. “We’re going to work really hard to make sure we get everybody who wants a vaccine vaccinated by the Fourth of July,” Baker said at the meeting. To which Biden replied: “Thanks Charlie. Thank you. You’re doing a hell of a job.”

Travis Andersen of the Globe staff contributed to this report.