Thread by @JaneLindholm

Tuesday press briefing about to start. Here’s a thread! #vtpoli #COVID19

Concerning movement on case numbers that will be talked about in today’s press briefing and modeling report. Interesting to note that cases continue to decline among older Vermonters, who are, of course, vaccinated in higher levels than younger Vermonters.

Governor Scott IS starting the briefing today. His call with governors and the White House has been postponed to the afternoon.

Scott says the state is moving forward the date for phase 5B: Vermonters with high-risk medical conditions who are age 16-64. That group will now be able to start scheduling vaccines THIS THURSDAY, rather than the previously announced Monday 3/15.

VT is already following new CDC guidelines to allow vaccinated ppl to gather with one another, or one household that has unvaccinated individuals.

Scott says this Friday, those who have not been vaccinated will also get changes to gathering restrictions, but he's not announcing that change today. Guess he's building suspense for Friday's briefing.

A little bit more: sounds like he'll be changing some small gathering guidelines for unvaccinated individuals, which will also impact the rules for restaurants.

Modeling report now. commissioner Pieciak says case counts in Vermont are increasing, even without the cases attributed to the outbreak at the state prison in the Newport area.

Vermont stats, including cases broken out by age and the age breakdown of those who have been vaccinated.

Hospital rates have gone down and the state expects deaths to continue to decrease significantly this spring. Forecast is for Vermont to see an overall decline in cases.

Hospital and ICU forecast. And how Vermont compares in vaccination %. Plus regional and national stats. Vermont ranks highest in the region in people who say they want to get the vaccine.

Interesting to note in that last slide that cases around the region have decreased, while Vermont-specific cases have been on the rise.

And in case you hadn't yet heard it, the B.1.1.7 variant, first discovered in the UK, has officially been documented in Vermont.

Pieciak says despite the fact that cases have been rising in VT over the last week, when he looks at the data all together, including the declining cases in vaccinated Vermonters and the slowdown in deaths and hospitalizations, it's the most optimistic he has felt in a long time.

Mike Smith now. He says more than 9000 medically vulnerable people age 55 and up and more than 8000 teachers/school staff have registered as of this morning. Their eligibility began yesterday.

The state will be accelerating the timetable for medically vulnerable Vermonters. Those age 16 and above with specified high-risk conditions can make an appointment starting this Thursday.

More vaccine clinics for educators are being scheduled around the state for next week. And those who work in registered child care centers will be eligible to sign up for the vaccine starting next week, through codes that will come from their employers.

Smith says more vaccination clinics are being scheduled and people who have already have an appointment but would like to get one sooner can call the vaccine hotline and see if they can change their appointment.

Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine now. Encourages Vermonters to please get tested--if you think you may have been exposed but also if you've gathered with others or want to check your status.

Levine says there are situations connected to hockey, again. But it's unclear whether it was from play, tailgating, or unrelated.

Mutations in Burlington wastewater had already pointed to the presence of the B.1.1.7 variant, but now the state has confirmed it in genomic sequencing. Levine says vaccines are effective against this strain, and preventive measures are best approach for those unvaccinated.

Levine is going over the guidelines for those who are vaccinated, including the fact that you can gather with others who are vaccinated without needing to wear a mask. And you can gather with another household that includes low-risk unvaccinated people without wearing a mask.

Those are both CDC guidelines and Vermont guidelines. VT still places restrictions on any multi-household gatherings where there are unvaccinated people in more than one household. (So two households with vaccinated adults but both have unvaccinated kids still can't gather.)

Levine says there have been a total of 458 nonviable or wasted doses. That's 0.2%, "well below CDC's recommended standard of under 5%."

Levine addressing the higher hospitalization rates, higher outbreak rates and higher contraction rates of COVID-19 for Vermonters of color. Says the state is working with community organizations to rebuild trust in the public health system.

"But we are seeing significant disparities" in the rate of vaccination from BIPOC Vermonters to non-BIPOC Vermonters. Acknowledges that the state's vaccine priority has not been beneficial to Vermonters of color.

"We can and must do better, not only in engagement...but in realizing better health outcomes." Starting next week, the state will expand vaccine priority to Vermonters of color in multi-generational households.

So Vters of color who are eligible for the vaccine can bring younger household members with them and they can all get vaccinated. This is a program that has been in place in certain parts of Chittenden Cty already, but will now be expanded statewide to include more populations.

Question time. First question is about why to open up gathering rules when we're seeing cases rise. Gov. Scott says he thinks the state can do it safely, and that warming weather temps will make outdoor gatherings easier.

Second question is about why there are fewer of the high-risk Vermonters signing up than the state had anticipated. Secretary Smith says it's too soon to tell, but doesn't think it's necessarily vaccine hesitancy. 1/2

Says it could be partly attributed to the fact that more people in this group are working, have other demands on their time and it just might take a little while to get them all registered. 2/2

Meanwhile, state has enough doses and appointments to open to all medically vulnerable Vermonters early, Smith says, so they wanted to do it as quickly as possible.

Levine says the goal is to get all Vermonters vaccinated as quickly as possible, so the state is trying to accelerate where possible. Scott says splitting the age groups within medically vulnerable was only done to try to make sure the system didn't get overwhelmed.

So now that they have a better sense of how much space they have in the system, they can open up quickly to younger Vermonters who are eligible because of medical conditions.

Scott says there are a lot of conversations about loosening travel restrictions and allowing people to come and go more freely within our region, but "March is a critical month." For Vermont and for the country. So he's not ready to open up yet.

"We have it all mapped out," he says, but needs more confirmation of vaccine supply from the federal government. Says VT should be able to lay out a very detailed plan by the end of the month.

Substitute teachers ARE eligible to get the vaccine under the school staff eligibility guidelines.

Q about people who live out of state but work in Vermont schools--can they get vaccinated?

Secretary Smith backs up a little bit. Says there are some reciprocal programs between VT/NH, specifically for health care workers at DHMC network and for others in 1A group, including staff at senior living facilities.

Also some reciprocation for those who live in one state and get medical care in another. Says there's also an expectation of reciprocal vaccination for teachers/school staff. Ppl who live in NH and work in VT schools can be vaccinated in VT. And vice versa.

There's some back and forth on this between Erin Petenko and Mike Smith that I'm confused about.

Erin asks Smith if he thinks maybe the news about opening eligibility to Vermonters age 55+ who are high risk has been lost because of all the news about other groups (like school staff) becoming eligible. He says yeah, he thinks that's totally possible.

Smith also reminds folks that after this push to vaccinate school staff and child care workers, and medically vulnerable folks, the state is planning to go back to age-banding.

Some questions coming in to me. Anyone in the #vtpoli presser queue able to ask?
1. why is the state not including those who work in higher ed for vaccine eligibility?
2. How can child care workers who don't work for a registered center get a code and get vaccinated?

Conversation about the VA clinic last week, and the state's role in communication with the VA system, given that it's a federally-run program separate from the state. VT officials think the VA is now aware of the need to schedule appointments, not just have a free-for-all.

FYI from the Health Department for those trying to figure out if they qualify because of a medical condition. First step is to check the list at healthvermont.gov/myvaccine or the COVID-19 FAQ at vermont.gov

If still unclear, call 855-722-7878
Or email: [e-mail]
Health dept tells me, "The call center is also where to go to register for vax if they can’t online or need to talk to someone in a language other than English."

"The Tier 1 vaccine call center has more than 300 call takers at any given moment during the week," says the health department spokesperson.

The school-based vaccination clinics are open to educators from any district, so some early clinics are being filled by educators who are not in the local districts. Ed Secretary Dan French says they're okay with that, but are working to add more clinics quickly.

Scott says administration is poring over the documentation in the latest federal relief package as it approaches its final draft. Says there's a lot of $ for broadband, and the administration is eager to get $ out to VT businesses. "Too early to know exactly what it will mean."

Question about why Vt's rate of doses used (76%) is lower than US average (79%). Commissioner Pieciak says he thinks the data is incongruent, because states leading in the unused metric are not necessarily leading in the percentage of people who are fully vaccinated (both doses).

Pieciak says he thinks it's a reporting anomaly, primarily. Smith says some states are also using their allowance of 2nd doses as 1st dose, hoping that the inventory will increase enough that they can make up the deficit. (ME: !!) Says VT doesn't do that.

Gov. Scott says one further wrinkle is that some pharmacies, which control their own inventory, are sitting on doses because they can't always get them to rural stores in efficient ways, but those doses still count against the state total.

Question about some child care providers who are left out of child care eligibility. Smith says the state is using the state's list of licensed child care providers as its eligibility criteria. So it sounds like those who aren't on the list aren't able to get a vaccine right now.

Pharmacies or clinics with unused doses at the end of the day have a protocol they’re supposed to follow, which includes first looking for people who are already eligible: maybe they have a future appointment, or are in Group 1A, or are home-bound and can be reached through EMTs.

Then they can go to someone who will soon be eligible. Last resort is to just find someone. Priority is to avoid wastage at all costs. Pharmacies/clinics advised to have their own system for doing all of this.

Scott says he expects to open to those aged 60+ in the next few weeks. More to come soon on the schedule for the rest of the age bands.

Question about whether Vermont schools that can’t accommodate 6-foot spacing in upper level grades should still be expected and comfortable going back to full-time in-person learning. Lots of not quite direct answers from administration.

But then, specific to older grades and distancing, Levine says he expects new CDC guidelines soon (that would presumably lessen distancing recommendations) and that changing VT school guidelines isn’t up to him.

Scott reiterates that he expects to be able to lay out ALL the details of the remaining vaccination stages and some changes to guidelines within the next few weeks, as he gets clarity on vaccine supply from the federal govt.

Q about expanded eligibility for BIPOC Vters, and why not expanding to all BIPOC Vermonters, not just those who live with someone who's already eligible. Levine basically says the state is ok with what it's offering now, suggests too many people to open to all BIPOC Vermonters.

In response to a question about Catholic leaders telling people to avoid the J&J vaccine, Scott says Vermonters who have a religious objection to that vaccine will get "put on a list" and able to get one of the other vaccines.

Ham Davis offers thoughts to the Scott administration, but no questions. We're done!