Chittenden County has crossed the 80% vaccination threshold, prompting Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger to announce that he plans to repeal the city’s Covid-19 emergency order.
On March 16, 2020, Weinberger declared a city emergency, triggering an almost complete shutdown of businesses and city government buildings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Two months ago, the city had some of Vermont’s highest case numbers of Covid-19, but last weekend, zero cases were recorded in Chittenden County.
As of Wednesday, only one case of Covid-19 had been recorded this week, and 81.1% of residents had received at least one dose of the vaccine.
On June 15, the emergency order will be repealed, Weinberger said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. However, “that does not mean our work to contain the virus will fully be complete.”
“At that point, we will continue our commitment to ending any threat of a fall spike and return of the pandemic by continuing through the summer to push for the deployment of vaccines,” he said.
The state’s Covid-19 emergency order, which Gov. Phil Scott enacted in March 2020, is still in place. While Scott said he will lift all Covid-19 restrictions when 80% of Vermonters have received their first dose — 78.4% are at least partially vaccinated — he hasn’t provided more details about how or when the statewide emergency order will be lifted.
The city’s mask mandate for retail stores and city government buildings is still in place, even though Vermont has adopted the more relaxed guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that fully vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks.
City councilors elected to postpone a repeal of the mask mandate to give people ages 18-30 more time to become fully vaccinated. The council will consider repealing the mask mandate when it meets Monday.
In an effort to keep Chittenden County’s vaccination rate on the rise, Weinberger said Burlington will host pop-up vaccination sites at North Beach, the Jazz Festival and at the city’s Juneteenth celebration.
And, to celebrate the city’s emergence from the pandemic and to keep kids learning this summer after a tumultuous school year, the city will host myriad events and classes for families.
School Superintendent Tom Flanagan said at Wednesday’s press conference that the school district will use $400,000 from the Covid-19 emergency funds it received to expand its repertoire of classes and camps this summer. Burlington City Arts will also host weekly outdoor concerts and City Hall Park fountain splash sessions for kids.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misquoted Mayor Weinberger.