Democratic leaders in the Vermont Legislature are calling on the state to step up its response to the latest surge of Covid-19, targeting their criticism at Republican Gov. Phil Scott — who dismissed their concerns as “playing politics.”
House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, and Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham, both released statements Tuesday morning expressing concern about the surge driven by the Delta variant.
Noting that children under age 12 cannot yet be vaccinated and schools are about to open, Krowinski said she was “calling on Governor Scott to take additional steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and protect Vermonters.”
“Since the start of the pandemic, Vermont has been leading the nation in our response to COVID, and Vermonters have stepped up heroically, steadfastly, and let evidence-based science guide our policy response,” she said. “That’s why I am concerned that the Governor’s change in strategy is failing to keep Vermonters, all of us, safe.”
Krowinski included a list of questions for Gov. Phil Scott, challenging Vermont’s lack of an indoor mask mandate and whether the state’s guidance for schools has been sufficient, among other concerns.
Meanwhile, Balint said she and her colleagues were “fielding many questions from our constituents, our schools, and our businesses about our statewide strategy.”
“It is unclear and confusing to thousands of parents across Vermont why students, faculty, and staff are not being required to wear masks in schools at a time when we have community spread of the virus and our youngest children don’t have the protection that adults have available to them,” Balint said in her statement.
At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Scott shot back.
“I think it’s unfortunate to play politics at this point in time,” he said.
“I think one of the reasons our pandemic response has been the best in the nation is that we never politicize our response as other states and other ambitious leaders have done throughout the country,” he said. “Playing politics isn’t going to help the situation or help Vermonters.”
When it comes to schools, Scott has maintained that Vermont cannot impose any mandates on school districts because he lifted the state of emergency in June. (The administration’s non-binding guidance encourages school districts to require all students and staff to wear masks at the start of the school year. Following that time, eligible students and staff can unmask if the vaccination rate of eligible students reaches 80% or more. The guidance recommends that all students who are ineligible for vaccination should continue to be required to wear masks inside schools until they are eligible, at which point guidance could be reconsidered.)
Mandates should only be imposed in times of real emergency, Scott said on Tuesday, adding, “There’s nothing. There’s no emergency that we’re seeing at this point in time that would force us to go into one.”
Scott instead asked Vermonters to “use common sense.”
“Be vigilant, get your vaccinations and continue to use your head to assess your own situation, and do the right thing,” he said.
Scott pointed to data that shows Vermont has lower-than-average case and hospitalization rates compared to other states so far in the latest wave of the pandemic.
Krowinski mentioned five states with further restrictions, but Scott said those states are “like night and day to where Vermont is.”
“If we had the same situation in Vermont that they are experiencing in Louisiana,” with cases 14 times higher than Vermont’s, “we would have never lifted our state of emergency,” he said.
Data from other countries — U.K., India, Israel — experiencing a Delta wave suggests cases will peak after the nine-week mark, and Vermont is about seven weeks into its wave, Scott said.
The rate of increase in Vermont “continues to slow,” which he said indicates that Vermont should begin to see that same decrease “very soon.”
In response to Scott’s accusation of playing politics, Balint told reporters she “found that offensive.”
“We met with the governor last week face to face to bring up these concerns,” she said. “In that meeting, we expressed to him that we are hearing these things from our communities.”
She said a state of emergency would give clear, direct guidelines for Vermonters to run their lives and businesses.
“If there’s another way to get there that doesn’t require an emergency order then I’m open to that, but this piecemeal approach is very confusing,” she said.
Krowinski said she’s hearing stories across the state from school board members and teachers about different requirements in different districts.
“I don’t think sharing people’s fear and anxiety is political,” she said.
She and Balint said they’d like Vermont to align its guidance to follow recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The administration has various tools they can use to slow down this pandemic and follow CDC advice, whether its an emergency order, a public health order, or any other legal mechanism, I just [think we should] find a way to keep people safe especially since we’re seeing an uptick in hospital and ICU cases,” Krowinski said.
Cases rising, but not as fast as they once did
Vermont reported 798 cases over the past week, compared to 758 the week before, according to a presentation by Financial Regulation Commissioner Mike Pieciak at Tuesday’s press conference.
That represented the slowest increase since mid-July — a sign, Pieciak said, that Vermont’s case count could soon plateau and then decline.
The reproduction rate is dropping and getting close to 1.0, meaning that each person with Covid would be expected to spread the disease to one other person, Pieciak said. Once that rate dips below 1, cases should start declining.
The weekly infections forecast produced by the state predicts that cases will peak in early to mid-September, then start to decline. Cases have already declined in Chittenden County, which once had the highest rate in the state. Bennington County currently has the highest case rate.
The state revised its deaths forecast upward, with 15 to 18 deaths now predicted for August. Ten people have died from the virus so far this month.
Data categorizing cases based on a person’s vaccination status once again shows that cases are far higher among unvaccinated Vermonters. The case rate for unvaccinated Vermonters rose 28% this week, compared to an 18% increase for vaccinated Vermonters.
Scott added that looking at raw numbers of breakthrough cases, which are rising, is “not a fair comparison or analysis,” since the vast majority of the state is vaccinated.
“The evidence is clear: Being vaccinated significantly reduces your risk of getting Covid and experiencing more severe outcomes in the unlikely event that you do contract it,” he said.
About two-thirds of recent hospitalizations are among unvaccinated Vermonters, who represent roughly 25% of the population. However, the hospitalization rate is highest among Vermonters over the age of 70, despite their high vaccination rates.
About 85.5% of Vermonters 12 and older have begun the vaccination process, including 3,086 in the past week — an 11% increase from the week before.
Vaccinations remain lowest in the 18- to 21-year-old age band, but college students attending 13 schools have an over 90% vaccination rate, Pieciak said.
Officials outline booster plans
Human Services Sec. Mike Smith said at Tuesday’s press conference that third shots for mRNA vaccine recipients could start as soon as Sept. 20.
Federal officials have recommended a third dose of Pfizer and Moderna about eight months after a person receives their second dose. Smith said the first priority for the booster shots would be the first people who received them in the winter: Health care workers and long-term care patients and staff.
Smith said booster recipients have even more options than they did in the first wave of vaccinations, since primary care offices are offering the vaccine in addition to pharmacies, health care centers and pop-up clinics.
Vaccinations of Vermonters under 12 are also expected to begin in September. Scott said children would need a dedicated supply because they are recommended a lower dose of the vaccine. But there was “plenty of supply” available, he said.
Scott said he hoped the full federal Food and Drug Administration approval of the Pfizer vaccine would encourage unvaccinated Vermonters to get the shot.
“All of the Covid vaccines had to pass rigorous scientific standards to get their emergency use authorization,” he said. “The FDA full approval delivers increased confidence that the Pfizer vaccine meets even higher standards.”
School return plan outlined
State officials had previously announced their recommendation for back-to-school planning — that schools require indoor masking unless the school meets an 80% vaccination threshold among students.
Deputy Education Sec. Heather Bouchey outlined a few additional details of the state’s guidelines, which are not mandatory because Vermont is not under a state of emergency.
But Bouchey said individuals were required to follow the mandates of school districts.
“Under Vermont law, districts have broad authority and responsibility to soundly administer their schools, including adopting local policies, practices and actions to keep their students safe and healthy,” she said.
The state plans to offer surveillance testing for all students and staff, she said.
State epidemiologist Patsy Kelso said contact tracing would resume for the school year. School contact tracing efforts kick into gear when students or staff members attend school or a school event while infectious.
The Health Department could be notified by parents or school staff, or uncover a potential case during the contact tracing process.
Schools would work with the Health Department to send quarantine letters or otherwise notify families when students need to quarantine, she said.
She also addressed kids and their caregivers: “Whether it’s sports, music, theater or anything else, your chances of doing what you love this school year will be much greater if you do one simple thing: Get vaccinated,” she said.
Grace Benninghoff contributed to this story.
Corrections: House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, mentioned five states with further restrictions. An earlier version of this story wrongly attributed that to Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham. Information on the administration’s guidance to school districts has been added.