Chittenden County is about to hit an important Covid-19 vaccination milestone.
By the end of Friday, the county expects to report that more than 100,000 people have received at least one dose of the two-dose Covid-19 vaccine.
The county so far has administered 99,817 doses, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger announced at a press conference Friday morning. That accounts for 72% of people who are eligible to get the shot, including people ages 16 and older. Chittenden County has a total population of 163,774, according to the U.S. Census.
Weinberger said the county administers an average of 1,000 vaccine doses a day, which is why he’s confident the milestone will be passed.
With the rise in vaccinations, case counts have also been dropping steeply in the county. On April 1, the county reported an all-time, one-day high of 106 cases. Today, only 14 cases have been recorded, and the seven-day average is 10 cases.
Weinberger also announced that Burlington will establish walk-up vaccination sites in the downtown area and on North Beach in an effort to make getting vaccinated as easy as possible.
“While this is an important achievement that we can all be proud of,” Weinberger said, “it does not mean that our job is done.”
He raised concerns about vaccination disparities between white Vermonters and those who are Black, Indigenous and people of color.
According to the state’s vaccination dashboard, only 55.5% of people who identify as BIPOC have received at least one dose, compared to 67.6% of those who identify as white.
Statewide efforts are underway to increase vaccination rates among BIPOC communities. Gov. Phil Scott expanded vaccine eligibility to all BIPOC Vermonters ages 16 and up in early April, when only people 50 and up were eligible in the general population.
In Burlington, multiple BIPOC vaccination clinics have been organized to increase vaccination rates. Free transportation is also being provided to people who are having trouble getting to a vaccination site.
Belan Antensaye, a public policy and research analyst for Burlington’s Office of Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, helps to lead this vaccination effort. She said her clinics aim to help people feel welcome and safe after a year of anxiety and isolation.
“I’m speaking more to the BIPOC community now directly,” Antensaye said at the press conference.
“There are people who look like you at these clinics, who will support you, who will greet you,” she said. “There is music at these clinics. It is the least clinical clinic that you could ever go to and we want to keep it that way.”
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., also attended Friday’s press conference to commend Vermont on its vaccination progress. Weinberger praised Leahy for helping Burlington receive $27 million in federal aid through the America Rescue Plan. The money is helping the city return to pre-pandemic spending levels in its fiscal year 2022 budget.
The senior senator, who chairs the influential Senate Appropriations Committee, was seen as a major influence in helping Vermont secure pandemic aid.
“I was all over the state the past couple of months. And I remember before the sense of pessimism. But I now see a change in optimism,” Leahy said.
“We have to keep going. Our lives, our country has been divided for so many different reasons. Some political, some because of the pandemic,” Leahy said. “Bring us back together. One thing that will do that is if all of us, all of us, get vaccinated.”
