Teachers Blast Updates To MA Vaccination Plan: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Tuesday, January 26. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Massachusetts teachers are upset after Gov. Baker bumped people over the age of 65 ahead of them on the priority list for getting the coronavirus vaccine.
• Meteorologists are tracking two winter storms headed towards Massachusetts.
• Race organizers hope to run the Boston Marathon in October.

Scroll down for those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Tuesday's Top Story

Unions representing teachers say the Baker administration's updated plan for vaccinating Massachusetts residents against the coronavirus is stalling a safe return to in-person learning.

"The Baker administration must do a better job of balancing the needs of people at risk because of age and other factors with recognizing that people working with students need to be vaccinated," Massachusetts Teachers Association President Merrie Najimy said in a statement. "We had not opposed the original prioritization list because it had a rational basis and promised to deliver vaccines to educators in February. Now, those hopes may be dashed."

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced changes to the state's vaccination plan Monday that bumped people over the age of 65 ahead of teachers on the priority list. Union leaders had also hoped the state would move teachers at the state's colleges and universities to the second phase of the vaccination plan from the third phase.

Read the full story.

More Updates On The Coronavirus:

• Rhode Island Drops Massachusetts From Coronavirus Travel Ban
• Massachusetts Vaccination Effort Lags Behind Other States
• Swampscott Fire Suffers First Coronavirus Outbreak
• Don't Call Brookline Health Department About Vaccine: Officials

Today’s Other Top Stories In Massachusetts

Runners rejoice: The Boston Athletic Association said Monday it hopes to hold the 2021 Boston Marathon on Oct. 11. There are still several hurdles for the BAA to cross, including getting approval from the eight towns along the marathon route. The event was canceled for the first time in its 124 history in 2020, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Having trouble reading this? It may be because of a widespread internet outage affecting the U.S. People posting on Twitter reported having issues connecting with various online services in a geographic area stretching from Washington to Boston. Disruptions to internet services are always a hassle, but have become even more excruciating as the pandemic forces millions of people to work from home and students to attend school remotely.

Say it isn't snow: Much of Massachusetts will see snow this afternoon and into Wednesday, with the eastern parts of the state looking at a dusting to three inches. But a bigger storm could be taking shape and hit us on Sunday.

Well isn’t that special? The Salem-based Satanic Temple filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Boston, alleging that the city council has unfairly prevented the group from reciting a pre-meeting prayer. "We feel that this cuts right to our fundamental values as a democratic republic that respects pluralism, and part of that is ensuring that our public officials do not show preference for one viewpoint over another, but rule by principle and rule by law," Lucien Greaves, founder of the Satanic Temple, said.

Fun and Games (and booze): The arcade, which has been a fixture on Route 9 in Framingham since 1974, received approval to begin serving beer and wine. The move comes after a recent expansion of its menu -- and after years of requests from parents for alcohol service.

By The Numbers

300: The number of coronavirus vaccine doses the Arlington health department received for its clinic serving residents from Arlington, Belmont and Lexington. Arlington officials had requested 1,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine; the 70 percent shortfall forced them to place restrictions on Wednesday’s clinic.

In Case You Missed It

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• Man Found Dead Near Providence Highway

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).