NEWS

THE TUFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXXIII, ISSUE 1 MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

tuftsdaily.com

Protestors slam vaccine mandate, delay vote at Somerville Board of Health meeting

by Ethan Steinberg

News Editor

The Somerville Board of Health suspended a virtual public meeting Friday after dozens of protestors stormed the call, interrupted deliberations and prevented a vote on an order that would require individuals 12 and older to show proof of vaccination before entering select indoor spaces in the city starting Monday.

The session, which was attended by local residents, small business owners and city officials, was the second in less than a month that ended without a vote on the proposal. In December, the vote was first tabled after facing opposition from some community members.

The board is set to reconvene this week, according to Denise Taylor, a Somerville spokesperson.

The order, which was initially proposed by former Mayor Joseph Curtatone late last year, mirrors Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s “B Together” initiative, which launched Saturday and requires individuals 12 and older to show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, bars, fitness centers and entertainment venues in the city. Leaders in Medford, Allston and Cambridge have also proposed similar policies.

The current Somerville proposal applies to indoor venues like those in the Boston initiative, though it exempts individuals entering an indoor facility “for a quick and limited purpose,” like picking up takeout food or making a delivery.

Facilities on Tufts’ Medford/ Somerville campus would be exempt from the order, as would other schools and universities in the city.

The Somerville mandate would require individuals 12 and older to show proof of one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Jan. 24 and to be fully vaccinated by Feb. 15. Individuals aged 5 to 11 would have to show proof of being fully vaccinated by May 1 and of one dose by March 1. Valid forms of proof of vaccination status would include a vaccination card, an immunization record, a letter from a doctor or a mobile

see VACCINE, page 2

Tufts introduces new masking and testing guidelines amid omicron surge

by Flora Meng

Deputy News Editor

Tufts updated its masking and testing guidelines for the spring semester in an email sent to the Tufts community on Jan. 2. The update follows the recent announcement of an updated vaccination policy, requiring all eligible students, faculty and staff to receive a COVID-19 booster vaccination by Feb. 15.

The email announced that, based on the new masking guidelines, cloth masks are no longer permitted on Tufts’ campuses given their lower effectiveness relative to disposable three-ply or KN95 masks.

“Data show that cloth masks are not as effective as surgical-grade 3-ply or KN95 masks in preventing transmission of the virus,” the email said. ”You must wear disposable 3-ply or high quality KN95 masks and replace them daily or sooner if they get wet or dirty.”

To facilitate this transition, Tufts will ensure that students have access to disposable surgical masks in various locations throughout campus.

see OMICRON, page 3

LYDIA RICHARDSON / THE TUFTS DAILY Close-up of entrance ID scanner, label maker and testing tubes inside of Tufts University COVID-19 testing site are pictured on Nov. 8, 2020.

Ballantyne unveils agenda for first 100 days as Somerville mayor

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY

Somerville City Hall is pictured on March 12, 2021.

by Claire Ferris

Assistant News Editor

Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne was inaugurated on Jan. 3 during a virtual ceremony and subsequently released her agenda for her first 100 days in office on Jan. 12. The reception that typically follows a mayoral inauguration was postponed to the spring, when a civic celebration will be held.

In her inaugural address, Ballantyne highlighted the continued need for a thorough COVID-19 response as well as her other priorities for the City of Somerville, which include reimagining policing, improving housing affordability and developing climate change initiatives.

Ballantyne’s plan for her first 100 days, titled “Progress for All,” focuses on making fast, meaningful changes for the Somerville community.

“I want to be clear: equity should not just be a buzzword,” Ballantyne said in her address. “Equity has to be our guiding star.”

Rocco DiRico, Tufts’ executive director of government and community relations, commented on Ballantyne’s election on behalf of the university, noting that she also focused on equity during her time as a Somerville city councilor.

“During Mayor Ballantyne’s time on the Somerville City Council, she demonstrated that she was dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” DiRico wrote in an email. “I am happy to see that she is bringing these priorities to the Mayor’s Office.”

Though the “Progress for All” agenda expands on priorities Ballantyne outlined in her inaugural address, its primary focus is aiding the city in recovering from COVID-19 and preventing future community spread.

“Many people are understandably emotional and done with COVID,” Ballantyne told the Daily. “But unfortunately, the virus is not done with us. We need to keep our focus on those communities that are hardest hit.”

Ballantyne said that the City of Somerville recently received 3,000 N95 and KN95 masks, which will be distributed to Somerville’s most vulnerable communities.

Tufts has assisted Somerville in slowing community spread of the virus, according to DiRico.

“Tufts University has worked closely with the City of Somerville since the early days of the pandemic,” DiRico wrote. “We created a community testing program that provided more than 1,400 free tests to neighbors in Medford and Somerville. Tufts partnered with Somerville Public Schools to launch a pooled testing program that served over 4,000 students, teachers, and staff.”

In addition to leading the city’s COVID recovery, Ballantyne noted that she is also aiming to expand financial support for local businesses and help them get their workers vaccinated. Her administration is pursuing a local vaccine mandate to help businesses

see MAYOR, page 2

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VACCINE

continued from page 1 app similar to the one rolled out in Boston.

Roughly 80% of Somerville residents were vaccinated as of Tuesday, Jan. 18, according to the city’s public dashboard, with just over 43% having received a booster dose.

“The vaccine requirement is important for helping to keep our businesses open and their staff and customers safe, so my hope is that it will pass,” Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne wrote in an email to the Daily. “And if it does, the City is ready to assist businesses in rolling this out because we’ve got to fight this virus on all fronts.”

Many restaurant owners voiced strong opposition to the mandate on Friday. Some said the order would put their staff in danger and drain resources from their businesses, which are already reeling from staff shortages, supply chain woes and plummeting revenue.

“We would not be able to survive,” Joe Carreiro, the business manager of El Potro Mexican Grill in Union Square, told the Daily. “And that’s not something that, I think, would be a unique story.”

If the mandate passes, Carreiro said he would have to hire an additional worker to check vaccine cards at the door, which he said would cost him more than $1,000 a week and tens of thousands of dollars across several months.

The city will be distributing relief funds to businesses this month, according to Mayor Ballantyne’s chief of staff, Nikki Spencer, who spoke at the meeting Friday. But Carreiro said he doesn’t expect the funds to fully offset the costs he would incur as a result of the mandate.

He also cited the potential disruption due to the political divide the issue has exposed. At the meeting Friday, several members of the public continuously interrupted the Board of Health, using obscene language and accusing the medical professionals of acting in their own self-interest.

“What happened at that meeting could happen in our restaurant,” Carreiro said.

Several other restaurant workers who spoke at the meeting Friday echoed Carreiro’s concerns, with some saying the order would exacerbate existing staffing shortages by forcing unvaccinated workers out of their jobs. Carreiro said he and most of his employees are fully vaccinated.

“Businesses are a member of your community,” he said to the Daily, referring to the city. “You have to help us out.”

Tufts first-year Jack Perenick, who lives in Somerville and serves on the municipality’s Democratic city committee, expressed support for the vaccine mandate at the meeting last week. He said the decision should be made with public health in mind, citing evidence that a mandate could increase vaccination rates and save lives, and that questions of practicality, including the economic impact of the order, should be left up to the city — not the Board of Health — to decide.

The proposed mandate raises tensions amid Somerville’s most gripping virus surge yet —the over 3,000 positive test results in the first two weeks of this month have already eclipsed the previous monthly high, according to city data. It appears the city’s current surge has already reached its peak: Daily indicators have declined between Jan. 10 and Jan. 17, which is the most recent day for which data has been made available.

However, public health officials at the Somerville meeting Friday cautioned that the current wave would continue to cripple local hospitals for some time. Roughly 94% of hospital beds in Middlesex County were occupied as of Tuesday, according to a Harvard research study. The vaccine mandate, if passed, would not have an immediate effect on the current surge and hospitalizations, said Chairman of the Board of Health Brian Green at the meeting.

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

A Somerville Board of Health meeting regarding a local vaccine mandate was interrupted by several protestors last week.

Ballantyne to focus on equity, climate and COVID-19 response

MAYOR

continued from page 1 stay open, but a Jan. 14. Board of Health meeting on the matter was adjourned without a vote due to interruptions from protestors.

Ballantyne also discussed her staff’s expansion of their outreach and support to communities hit hardest by the most recent COVID-19 wave. Somerville’s Office of Immigrant Affairs is conducting outreach in five languages to help immigrant populations get vaccinated. Local clinics based in schools and transportation vouchers to vaccination sites will also contribute to the city’s effort to vaccinate low-income or vulnerable communities.

Community input is key to Ballantyne’s approach to governance, she says. The mayor described how she will approach the issue of policing by listening to community wants and needs.

“The community very clearly said to us in the past years that … we have to change the system,” Ballantyne said. “We have hired a racial and social justice director … We’re putting out a call soon for community outreach support for reimagining the policing process.”

Though Ballantyne does hope for action on police reform, she noted that her team is still collecting data at the moment to ensure they get community input on the best way forward.

The “Progress for All” agenda also sets a goal for Somerville to achieve net-negative carbon emissions by 2050.

DiRico explained that Tufts’ own goals are aligned with those Ballantyne set out in her agenda.

“Tufts University is committed to achieving carbon neutrality as soon as possible, but no later than 2050,” DiRico wrote. “As part of this commitment, many of the new buildings on campus including Sophia Gordon, CLIC, and the Science and Engineering Center are LEED certified.”

Ballantyne highlighted the importance of playing a regional advocacy role on climate issues and shared her intentions about electrifying public transportation fleets and implementing microgrids in neighborhoods.

Another item on her agenda is placing emphasis on tending to the needs of Somerville families and helping them stay in the city long-term. DiRico cheered Ballantyne’s focus on the children of Somerville.

“While Somerville has prospered in the last decade, more than two-thirds of the students in Somerville Public Schools qualify for free and reduced lunch,” DiRico wrote. “As the city continues to attract new developments, housing, and businesses, I’m glad to see that Mayor Ballantyne will make sure that no one gets left behind in that progress.”

While Ballantyne’s 100-day agenda sets several goals — such as closing the equity gap for women, exploring a rent-to-own program in Somerville, establishing a new Office of Accountability, Transparency, and Access and creating effective rodent control solutions — she is adamant that community input is the best way to formulate concrete plans for these goals.

To that end, Ballantyne will launch a “Voices of Somerville” survey to hear from residents on issues she wants to address in her time as mayor.

“My vision for Somerville is an inclusive, equitable city where we can all thrive together,” Ballantyne said.

SCIENCE Tufts researchers create membrane that filters fluoride out of water

by Elizabeth Foster

Associate Editor

This article originally published online on Dec. 13, 2021

Throughout her career, Ayse Asatekin, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at Tufts University, has sought to use filters to prevent illness and protect the environment. One mineral that performs this function is fluoride, which results in dental and skeletal fluorosis. Fluorosis is a degradation of bones or teeth that happens when fluoride is consumed in excess quantities at a young age. Now, Asatekin has finally found a solution to filtering fluoride out of water.

In a new paper recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Asatekin and her lab designed a membrane filter that uses zwitterionic — or specially charged — molecules to remove certain ions from drinking water. Asatekin hopes to one day apply the filtration method both sustainably and in large scale production, since her membranes are energy efficient and can be produced and used with the existing infrastructure.

Tap water often contains calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride ions. An ion is a molecule or atom with a charge caused by either the loss or addition of electrons. Most tap water in the United States has some of these ions, such as fluoride, filtered into drinking water to provide additional nutrients.

Fluoride, in small amounts, prevents tooth decay. However, in some parts of the world where there is too much fluoride present in drinking water, excess amounts of the ion cause widespread dental and skeletal fluorosis.

There are a couple of different ways to filter ions out of water. The first is to remove every ion from the water, and the second is to filter out only specific materials. The first method is usually inefficient because a ton of energy is needed to filter all materials out and then add certain ions and minerals back in. One of the most famous examples of this is desalination, the process of removing salt from seawater.

The second method, though more difficult to create membrane filters for, is far more energy efficient. Compared to desalination techniques, a salt-filtering membrane decreases energy usage by 90%. Asatekin notes that about 10% of the energy used in the United States is applied to separating chemicals.

“The particular separations we look into right now are not necessarily the ones with the biggest energy impact,” Asatekin said. “My dream would be to replace the very energy-intensive separation processes such as desalination and chromatography.”

But there are limits to what can be separated through these types of membranes, which use charges to filter ions. Asatekin’s lab focused on the particular challenge of filtering out an ion while leaving in another of the same charge. For example, they wanted to filter fluoride out but leave chloride — which prevents water from tasting flat — in.

In the new study, Asatekin’s lab created a self-assembled, cross-linked zwitterionic copolymer membrane that separates fluoride out of water while keeping chloride in. As water passes through the membrane, tiny holes use special chemical bonds — zwitterionic ones — to leave fluoride behind.

Asatekin’s lab has most notably made advances in filtering out fluoride through the pore size, the effect of a zwitterionic polymer on filtration and the clog-resistant nature of the membrane.

Sam Lounder, a Ph.D. student in the Tufts School of Engineering, member of Asatekin’s lab and co-author of the paper, helped develop a means to filter materials out of incredibly small pores.

“Back in 2019, our goal was to reduce the pore size down so that we could start filtering what I think are more interesting solutes like salt or small organics,” Lounder said.

While previous membranes were limited to pore sizes of 1.3 nanometers, Lounder’s research has developed a membrane with pores of less than one nanometer.

“What we found out these last few years is that the smaller pore size allows us to amplify the interactions between ions and the zwitterionic groups in the membrane core, and that led to some really nice ion selectivity,” Lounder said.

Yale Ph.D. candidate Ryan DuChanois studies membranes for selective ion separations. About Asatekin’s most recent paper, DuChanois said, “They did that using some really novel fabrication techniques, so that opens doors for new separations that were never possible before.”

William Phillip, the Rooney Family collegiate professor of engineering at the University of Notre Dame and leading researcher in membrane absorbers, remarked on the role of zwitterions in separating fluoride out of water.

“Sometimes you want particular salt ions in your water and not others, so her [membrane] currently allows for a pretty selective fluoride separation,” Phillip said. “That’s a really cool thing that they are able to do.”

These membranes were designed with the intention to be scaled, produced and implemented with existing manufacturing infrastructure. Asatekin’s lab already has a relationship with ZwitterCo, a membrane manufacturing startup founded by Alex Rapaport during his masters of science and innovation management at Tufts’ Gordon Institute. The company produced the first generation of Asatekin’s membranes, which are not charged and thus not able to selectively filter ions.

Jon Goodman, vice president of marketing of ZwitterCo, has worked in the membrane industry for the past 30 years. He said Asatekin’s work is revolutionary for the industry. Previous membranes clogged easily, such that after an hour of use, their flow rate decreased by 20%. The difference, however, is that Asatekin’s membranes do not foul or clog — and are thus far more accessible to industrial food processing and agricultural industries and manure management.

“It has a role to play in water reusal from wastewater, and water is one valuable product,” Goodman said.

The study focused on filtering out fluoride but leaving in chloride, but the process of selectively filtering identically charged ions may extend beyond fluoride and chloride. Asatekin said the new technology can perhaps improve lithium filtration and filter families of chemicals in biofuels.

Most tap water in the United States contains fluoride to provide additional nutrients.

COURTESY PIXABAY

Individual PCR tests enable more time-efficient contact tracing, Jordan says

OMICRON

continued from page 1

“The university is providing disposable three-ply masks in many locations on all campuses, including at main building entrances and residence halls,” the email said.

According to Dr. Marie Caggiano, medical director of Health Service, the three-ply masks provided by the university are effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19, but students are welcome to acquire their own KN95 masks if they prefer.

“Tufts has procured a large supply of quality 3-ply masks and these masks are effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 when used consistently and worn correctly,” Caggiano wrote in an email to the Daily. “Students may choose to purchase their own KN95 masks from reputable suppliers and wear them if they choose.”

Regardless of whether students choose to wear a threeply or KN95 mask, University Infection Control Health Director Michael Jordan stressed that wearing a mask is the most critical action to take after being vaccinated and boosted.

“In addition to being fully vaccinated and boosted, wearing a mask is the single most important measure we can take to prevent the transmission and acquisition of the COVID-19 virus,” Jordan wrote in an email to the Daily.

Jordan explained that students identified for wearing cloth masks on campus will be told to switch to surgical masks.

“Students who are seen wearing cloth masks will be asked to replace them with the required 3-ply disposable masks,” Jordan wrote. “We are making it easier for students to wear the 3-ply disposable masks by distributing them for free in many of the main buildings on our campuses, including at the testing centers.”

Tufts is also increasing the frequency of routine COVID19 surveillance testing to three times per week for students, faculty, staff and affiliates until the end of the current surge.

Caggiano explained that the purpose of increased testing is to maximize the rate of detection for positive cases and begin the isolation and contact tracing process in a timely manner.

“Both steps help to mitigate the spread of the virus within our community,” Caggiano wrote.

Students are also required to test immediately upon arriving on campus and limit close contacts until they receive a negative test, according to the email sent to the Tufts community on Jan. 2. All testing will be conducted as individual PCR tests rather than pooled testing, which will resume once cases drop.

Jordan discussed the differences between pooled testing and individual PCR tests.

“The difference between individual and pooled PCR testing is that pooled testing combines samples from up to ten (10) individuals and performs a COVID-19 PCR test on that group,” Jordan wrote. “If the results of the pooled test indicate that any of the samples are positive, follow-up individual PCR retests are given to each individual in the pool.”

Jordan explained that although pooled testing offers several benefits, individual PCR tests enable a more time-efficient isolation and contact tracing process. He added that Tufts will return to pooled testing once positive cases drop and stabilize.

“The benefits of the pooled testing methodology are that it reduces costs and environmental impact by requiring less equipment and fewer supplies and personnel,” Jordan wrote. “We are moving to individual testing for the start of the spring semester because we anticipate a high incidence of positive results as students return from break.”

The Jan. 2 email to the Tufts community acknowledged the significance of these changes.

“We recognize that these guidelines are stricter than they have been,” the email said. “However, they are necessary during this current surge to mitigate infections as we start the spring semester. … We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves and update the university’s guidance when necessary.”