Vermont could roll out Covid-19 booster vaccinations for roughly 130,000 eligible adults as early as this week, pending the release of federal guidance that is expected in the coming days, state officials said Tuesday.
“We have been actively planning for those that may qualify for boosters, making some assumptions so that we could be ready when approval comes through,” Agency of Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said at Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly coronavirus press conference.
The first phase of the booster campaign would prioritize residents of Vermont’s 140 long-term care facilities and high-risk Vermonters over age 16 who got their second Pfizer shot at least six months ago, Smith said.
An advisory panel to the federal Food and Drug Administration on Friday tentatively approved a third Pfizer shot for seniors, people in “high-risk occupations” and those who are at high risk for a severe infection.
Formal FDA approval is expected as early as Wednesday or Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also expected to release guidelines on the types of conditions and occupations that would qualify people for the booster later this week.
Administrators in long-term care facilities have partnered with pharmacies across the state to distribute booster shots to residents, Smith said.
Other eligible adults would receive boosters by appointment at mass vaccination clinics across the state, Smith said. He recommended that eligible Vermonters get their booster shots at the same clinics they used for their first two shots.
The state plans to deploy emergency management personnel as well as members of the National Guard to assist in that effort, Smith said.
“So far — knock on wood — I think we’ll be able to accommodate the various boosters that we have to have with the staffing that we’ve lined up,” he said.
Up to 14,000 immunocompromised Vermonters are already eligible for a third shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine following guidelines released last month.
Vermont’s booster plans come as cases of the highly contagious Delta variant continue to rise in the state, even as coronavirus cases nationwide have begun to level off. Vermont’s seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases increased 27% since Labor Day, state health officials said at Tuesday’s press conference. Health Commissioner Mark Levine attributed the uptick to a recent data glitch and to possible Covid-19 spread at Labor Day weekend gatherings.
Case counts at long-term care facilities experiencing active outbreaks in Vermont increased slightly this week to more than 136 cases across 10 facilities, compared with 134 cases in seven facilities last week.
The health department defines an outbreak as three or more related cases involving residents or staff in a 14-day period. The total number of cases reported at all long-term care facilities, including those not experiencing outbreaks, was not immediately available Tuesday, according to health department spokesperson Ben Truman.
The state’s booster plan is the latest in a series of efforts to protect Vermonters from coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths without suspending day-to-day activities. Even as the virus surges, just under 70,000 eligible Vermonters remain unvaccinated, according to state data.
Demand for the vaccines has dropped dramatically, according to Smith, who said some clinics in the state have vaccinated only a handful of walk-ins a day in recent weeks.
Nearly 4% of vaccine doses in the state expire before they can be used, state officials said. But Levine said that people who are not yet eligible for a booster should not be tempted to get a third shot quite yet, especially since firm guidelines haven’t been released.
“This will all be sorted in this transition period once we get the guidance,” Levine said.
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