This commentary is by Ashley Moore of East Calais, director of Alliance for a Better Vermont, a nonprofit organization working to elevate Vermont voices on the most pressing issues to advance a collective vision and create a more prosperous future for the state.
This month, Covid-19 case counts in Vermont reached their highest point since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
In response, both Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint and House Speaker Jill Krowinski released statements renewing their August calls on Gov. Scott to implement a statewide mask policy to protect the health and safety of Vermonters, and decrease the impacts of high community transmission on our schools, health systems, businesses and families.
The state of the pandemic is an alarming but predictable result of a failure of Gov. Scott and the administration to implement evidence-based policies to control the pandemic.
A year ago, Vermonters saw leadership that emphasized following the science and CDC guidance to protect the health and safety of Vermonters. Today’s message couldn’t be more different.
Just last month, Gov. Scott faced backlash for making claims that statewide masking protocols aren’t effective, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. Just weeks ago, when asked why case counts were rising across Vermont, he stated, “I don’t know; I wish I had the answer.” And at a recent press conference, he admitted that the vaccine alone hasn’t been as successful at preventing deaths as they had hoped, but declined to pursue other successful, data-informed strategies.
Throughout the summer and fall, there was a consistent outcry for statewide masking protocols per CDC guidance. But those calls fell on deaf ears. In August, as the school year approached, Gov. Scott and administration officials rejected calls for more guidance, support, and additional protocols to protect the health, safety and education of Vermont’s children.
So school administrators, pediatricians, public health experts and parents called for action. That same month, Department of Health employees issued a letter expressing concern with the lack of “adequate Covid-19 prevention guidance” from administration officials.
Some communities even tried to implement their own protocols in absence of statewide leadership, but were struck down by the administration, leading to broader calls from municipal leaders for statewide protocols or authority to implement them at the municipal level.
Since day one, we all have known that vaccinations are a crucial part of a comprehensive, layered strategy to reduce hospitalizations and deaths and prevent the emergence of new variants — and that vaccinations alone will not prevent transmission, hospitalizations and deaths.
Despite the fact that case counts have reached their highest levels, and despite the fact that the Delta surge has claimed more Vermonters since the start of September than during the first eight months of the pandemic, Gov. Scott has continued to refuse to change course.
Gov. Scott has the tools to implement necessary changes. The current state of the pandemic was predictable and preventable and it’s well past time to change course.
We are again calling on Gov. Scott to adopt a statewide, data-driven mask policy to protect the health and safety of Vermonters and decrease the impacts of high community transmission on our schools, health systems, businesses and families.
