Vermont hopes to have 34,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by the end of the month to administer to its first-round target: High-risk health care workers and patients at certain long-term care facilities.
Hospitals have started to vaccinate health care workers from the first 5,850 doses the state is receiving this week, with a second shot — needed to make the vaccine fully effective — soon to be delivered, said Dr. Mark Levine, Department of Health commissioner, at a press conference Tuesday.
Pharmacies will receive 1,950 doses to vaccinate patients at long-term care facilities, which have some of the sickest patients, by Dec. 21.
“Operation Warp Speed clearly lived up to its name, because we now have a vaccine developed in an unprecedented amount of time, and it’s here in Vermont,” Levine said. The first batch of the vaccine arrived Monday, and another shipment arrived Tuesday.
Levine called the vaccine delivery a “pivotal moment,” but “we all need to remember that this is just the start of a long process to receive and administer enough vaccines to bring Covid-19 under control.”
Gov. Phil Scott said Vermont reached 100 Covid deaths this week, and the United States hit 300,000 deaths. “We still have months of hard work ahead,” the governor said. The vaccine “marks the beginning of the end, but not the end. … I know hearing we still have months of sacrifice ahead is disappointing to many.”
The state is finalizing its plan to extend the vaccine to “Group 1B,” the high-risk Vermonters who will be the next target of the vaccination process. Levine said that group is likely to include people with underlying health conditions and more front-line workers, though the work of allocating the vaccine is continuing.
Vermont won’t have enough vaccine doses by the end of this month to cover the entire health care workforce and assisted living patients, which could total as many as 50,000 to 60,000 people, Levine said.
The state plans to administer the vaccine to this second priority group through primary care doctors and at vaccine clinics at district health offices for uninsured Vermonters, Levine said.
It will be spring before the general population can get in line for the vaccine, he said. Other people who could be prioritized for a vaccine: People who are homeless, people over 65, people of color, prisoners, college students and people with disabilities, according to the state’s October vaccine plan.
Another group of concern is agricultural workers, particularly undocumented agricultural workers, who may be living in congregate housing.
“Fortunately, even though those people might not be noticed as much or want to be noticed as much, they do actually have very good health care when they come to Vermont, through a lot of good volunteer health worker activity,” Levine said. “So there is an element, I believe, of pre-existing trust, which will be critical to build the foundation on, so that they will want to have the vaccine.”
While the state’s case rate is leveling off, Scott remains concerned about the high number of daily cases of Covid, and so extended Vermont’s state of emergency to Jan. 15.
Even after more Vermonters get vaccinated, there are several stipulations to be aware of as the state considers lifting its Covid restrictions. It’s unknown if the vaccine prevents people from passing on the virus, so vaccinated people should still wear masks and practice social distancing, Levine said.
Scott said he needs Vermonters to persevere this winter to follow state restrictions and keep each other safe.
“One thing I’ve always appreciated about Vermonters is our perseverance. It probably comes from those long, tough, cold winters, followed by difficult and still cool mud seasons,” Scott said. “But that’s what’s so special about being a Vermonter. We know just around the corner is a beautiful summer. … So we toughen up, put our head down and carry on.”
Thanksgiving surge is a nonstarter
More than two weeks after Thanksgiving, it’s safe to say that the holiday didn’t cause a surge in Vermont’s Covid numbers, according to a presentation Tuesday from Michael Pieciak, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation.
The state’s Covid numbers increased about 8% in the post-holiday period, far from the “surge on top of a surge” officials warned about in November. Pieciak attributed that to Vermonters’ good compliance with Covid restrictions.
Data compiled by location data aggregator Safegraph showed that Vermont was the third-least mobile state in the nation, in line with Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Other states have had a surge in the past few weeks, including Maine, where cases rose more than 99%, according to the presentation.
The state is tracking 47 outbreaks, 12 of which are health care related and 225 non-outbreak situations, 45 of which are health care-related, Levine said.
While Vermont reported 66 cases Tuesday, another sign that the virus is plateauing, it also reported its 100th death from the virus, Levine said. Three of the four deaths reported Tuesday were in long-term care facilities.
The presentation showed 94 new cases in long-term care in the past week, with two new facilities reporting infections: Our Lady of Providence in Winooski and Converse Home Assisted Living in Burlington.
Pieciak warned that, while the daily case numbers may be leveling off, Vermont still has its highest-ever number of active infections in the community.
“This means that our risk of being exposed to someone with Covid is greater now than it has been at any point in the pandemic, giving all the more reason to follow the public health guidance,” he said.
