Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Eastham are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you are interested in on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, May 1
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 5 p.m.
- Finance Committee, 5:30 p.m.
Monday, May 5
- Town Meeting, 5:30 p.m., Nauset High School auditorium
Tuesday, May 6
- Taxation Aid Committee, 11 a.m.
Wednesday, May 7
- Community Preservation Act Committee, 5 p.m.
Thursday, May 8
- Affordable Housing Trust, 9 a.m.
- Historical Commission on-site, 10:30 a.m., Inn at the Oaks
- Cultural Council, 6 p.m., Public Library
Conversation Starter
Measles Vaccine Clinic
Eastham is preparing to defend itself against a potential measles outbreak with a vaccine clinic on Wednesday, May 7 from 3:30 to 6 p.m at Nauset Regional High School.
Previous clinics were held in Provincetown and Orleans.
While no case of measles had been detected in Massachusetts this year as of the Independent’s deadline on April 29, there had already been three times as many confirmed measles cases in the U.S. in 2025 as there had been in all of 2024, according to the Center for Disease Control. Measles is highly contagious, with 9 out of 10 unprotected people likely to become infected after exposure to someone who has the virus.
According to the Barnstable County Dept. of Health and Environment, two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the most effective protection against measles. That vaccine was first developed in 1971, using a weakened strain of the virus created in 1968 by Dr. Maurice Hilleman.
While measles vaccines existed before 1968, the county health dept. warns that the ones used before that year were not as effective. People who were vaccinated between 1963 and 1967 are encouraged to get new vaccinations at the clinic. People who were born before 1957, meanwhile, are likely to have already contracted measles sometime in their lives and therefore don’t need a vaccination, according to the department.
You do not need to live in Eastham to get a vaccination at the clinic, but registration is required at capecod.gov/mmrvaccine. —Parker Mumford
