While 2020 was a year of isolation, 2021 brought scenes of adaptation. During the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vermonters worked hard to return to some degree of normalcy. We masked up, gathered outside and socially distanced at concerts and fairs. We got vaccinated at nation-leading speed. Yet we learned throughout the fall that the pandemic was hardly over — and that the problems it highlighted, including a severe housing crunch, were far from solved.
Continued vigilance about the coronavirus also inspired deep divisions. One photo, by VTDigger’s Glenn Russell, seemed to capture the dynamic. While two women protest school mask policies outside a Hinesburg high school, a masked student riding by on the bus gives them a sharp reply: her middle finger. The shot quickly went viral and resonated with millions. “If I could sum up the pandemic in a photo,” wrote Vermont pediatrician Rebecca Bell, “it would be this one.”
January 6: A legislator has their temperature scanned as they enter the Statehouse on the opening day of the 2020 legislative session in Montpelier. While some lawmakers gathered in person to gavel in the session, business was conducted almost entirely on Zoom. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerJanuary 20: Emma Haught, a bartender at J. Morgan’s Steakhouse in Montpelier, watches President Joe Biden deliver his inaugural address. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerFebruary 2: Dr. Harry Chen, a former commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health, prepares a dose of Covid-19 vaccine at a state-run clinic in Winooski. The shift to public vaccination clinics marked the start of a campaign that led to more than 95% of Vermont adults getting a shot. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerFebruary 10: Wayne Woodard of Newport Center lost his job building houses when the pandemic hit. He was one of thousands of Vermonters who continued to report issues with pandemic unemployment throughout the winter. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerFebruary 19: Olivia Johnson, a first-grader in St. Albans, demonstrates how she signs in to her homeroom on her tablet from her desk at home. Looking on is her mother Elizabeth, who also works from home. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerFebruary 22: Diana Bander tears up as she gets the first shot of the Covid vaccine at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Bander contracted Covid and has recovered but suffered long-term health problems since getting sick. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMarch 2: Independent mayoral candidate Ali Dieng’s glasses are completely fogged up as he stands outside the polling place at the Miller Center on Town Meeting Day in Burlington. Despite challenges from Dieng and City Council President Max Tracy, incumbent Mayor Miro Weinberger narrowly won a fourth term. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMarch 10: Fiona Connors, from left, Wynne Poleman and Ben Hallman of Tap O.N.E., an urban sugaring program, gather maple sap in Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMarch 15: Farmers Chris Gray, left, and Laura Brown in one of the empty cow barns at the Norwich Farm Creamery in Norwich. The creamery became the center of a dispute with the nearby Vermont Technical College. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMarch 18: Brandon Graton, who was living at the Travel Inn in Rutland as part of the state’s pandemic housing assistance program, told VTDigger that he was unsure where he would go when the program expired. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerApril 10: Bill Mullins, left, and Jeremy Frederick of Barbacoa play out of a van parked behind Momo’s Market in Burlington. Live music made a hesitant return this spring, sometimes through the use of unusual venues. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMay 3: Several thousand University of Vermont students take part in a Survivors Solidarity Walkout to protest the university’s response to sexual assault. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMay 12: Lt. Gov. Molly Gray prepares to gavel in a session of the Vermont Senate, with most members participating via Zoom. The Legislature adjourned on May 21 with the hope that it would be their last time convening virtually — but ongoing Covid concerns have forced remote operations to continue. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerMay 20: Phoebe White sets up a hammock at North Beach Park in Burlington to relax after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine at a walk-in clinic inside the park. The clinic was part of a strategy to make vaccines more accessible to 18- to 30-year-olds, who had the slowest uptake in their first weeks of eligibility. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
May 25: Madeleine Ziminsky, a student at Stowe High School, helped organize walkouts at both Stowe and Peoples Academy in Morrisville to commemorate one year since the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
June 8: Musician and jazz educator Dave Grippo leads an orchestra of several dozen volunteer saxophone players at the opening of the 2021 Discover Jazz Festival on the Burlington waterfront. The festival returned this year after being canceled in 2020. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerJune 17: Members at Heineberg Community Senior Center in Burlington take a yoga class. Senior citizens faced the effects of social isolation even before the pandemic, and many welcomed a return to group activities this year. Photo by Riley Robinson/VTDiggerJune 19: The Lake Champlain Mass Choir performs during a gospel brunch in Burlington’s City Hall Park as part of the city’s Juneteenth celebration. Photo by Riley Robinson/VTDiggerJune 22: 2nd Lt. Chad St John, center, works with other Vermont National Guard members to deconstruct a Covid-19 temporary field hospital at the Champlain Valley Expo. Photo by Riley Robinson/VTDiggerJune 22: The first of several deadlines limiting eligibility for the state’s housing assistance program, which accommodated people without homes in motel rooms around the state, arrived at the end of June. Sarah Trombly and her daughter Attalyn Philbrick were two of the people without housing staying at the Courtyard by Marriott in Middlebury. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerJune 30: Thomas Muske lived in the South Burlington Holiday Inn from July 2020 until June 2021. He says the supportive environment and the stability of the hotel were instrumental in his recovery from addiction this past year. Photo by Riley Robinson/VTDiggerJuly 14: Karen Underwood, a nursing assistant at CarePartners Adult Day Center in St. Albans, suits up to disinfect the dining room. During an acute workforce shortage in the elder care sector, Underwood said one of the most rewarding parts of her job is seeing how her coworkers support each other. “The way we pull together when we are short, we’ve always done that,” she said. Photo by Riley Robinson/VTDiggerJuly 22: Lydia Diamond, the mother of Brandon Williams, right, listens as Essex Police Chief Ron Hoague, left, speaks during a protest outside the department. Williams said he was racially discriminated against by the Essex Police Department and rejected a public apology made by the police chief, saying he wanted to hear it from the officers themselves. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerJuly 22: Theodora Veve, 8, of Cambridge competes in the pie-eating contest on the first day of the Lamoille County Field Days in Johnson. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerJuly 28: From left, Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher’s aunt Annelein Beukenkamp, and her mother Mieneke Maher celebrate as the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team scores against China. Dozens of people gathered at the Elks Lodge on North Avenue to support Maher, a Burlington High School alumna, in her Olympics debut. Photo by Riley Robinson/VTDiggerAugust 4: Scientists from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies undertake a bird population study on Mount Mansfield. Migration trends in certain bird species can act as a canary in the coal mine for climate change. Photo by Emma Cotton/VTDiggerAugust 25: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a press conference to discuss a sustainable energy initiative for Vermont schools and public buildings at Crossett Brook Middle School in Duxbury. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAugust 26: Kellen Lyford, 9, tends to a 4-month-old calf as his family prepares for the Champlain Valley Fair. Photo by Riley Robinson/VTDiggerSeptember 2: Several rides spin passengers in various orbits at dusk at the Champlain Valley Fair in Essex Junction. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerSeptember 3: Two protesters against vaccine and mask mandates in schools are met with derision by some students arriving at Champlain Valley High School in Hinesburg. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerSeptember 16: Debi Gevry Ellsworth, a member of The Voices of St. Joseph’s Orphanage and a survivor of abuse when at the orphanage as a child, speaks during a press conference in South Burlington. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerOctober 16: Students brought Pride flags to wave during a drag ball at Burlington High School’s homecoming game. Photo by Riley Robinson/VTDiggerOctober 26: A homemade banner hangs inside the Sears Lane encampment in Burlington on the city’s deadline for residents to leave the site. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerNovember 1: Demands that the state restore broader eligibility for the general assistance housing program are posted outside an area of the Statehouse where advocates, including Josh Lisenby, were sleeping. Lisenby was living in a shelter before he began sleeping on the Statehouse steps in protest this fall. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerNovember 3: Tyler Vandenbergh and Colby Lynch open the door to their room at the Quality Inn in Barre. The couple have been sleeping in their van for weeks and were admitted into the state’s general assistance housing program. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerNovember 22: Anti-mask mandate protesters gather outside a special session of the Legislature at the Statehouse in Montpelier. The session was called by Gov. Phil Scott to consider allowing mask mandates imposed by local municipalities. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerNovember 15: U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy gets a pat on the shoulder after announcing he will retire at the end of his term at a press conference in Montpelier. Leahy’s retirement touches off a series of races that could reshape Vermont’s congressional delegation. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDecember 3: Jon St. Amour, general manager of The Jericho Center Country Store, works the grill and sandwich station. The store is considered Vermont’s oldest continually operating general store and is for sale. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDecember 4: The 12th annual River of Light Lantern Parade was held in Waterbury. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDecember 7: Kaifa Dennis, who recently moved to Rutland, clears snow from the bust of an ancestor, Martin Freeman, which is part of the city’s downtown sculpture trail. The city has attracted dozens of out-of-state residents, bucking the trend in an area that’s confronting a population decline. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDecember 13: As a surge in Covid-19 cases drives a strain on hospital capacity statewide, a nurse tends to a Covid patient in the ICU at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Mike Dougherty is a senior editor at VTDigger leading the politics team. He is a DC-area native and studied journalism and music at New York University. Prior to joining VTDigger, Michael spent two years...
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