9/28/21
Okay, Tuesday press briefing any moment now. Tune to @vprnet to hear analysis up until it starts and afterwards. And here's a thread for those who don't want to sit and listen for 2 hours! #vtpoli #vted #covid19vt
Okay, Tuesday press briefing any moment now. Tune to @vprnet to hear analysis up until it starts and afterwards. And here's a thread for those who don't want to sit and listen for 2 hours! #vtpoli #vted #covid19vt
@vprnet A few asides. I got a COVID test last Thursday afternoon (I had attended a family funeral in Maine--masked indoors but unmasked for the outdoor reception, so I wanted to be on the safe side). Results came back on Saturday morning. Anyone still struggling to get timely results?
And I just got this note from my kids’ elementary school. Now very much hoping to hear more this hour. #vted 
Scott has begun. Says he heard from the White House that the initial rollout of COVID booster shots is going well. He says VT was one of the first, if not the first, state to offer mass booster vaccines.
On schools: the administration is now recommending that districts delay dropping mask mandates, and continue universal masking for the short term (through at least Nov. 1) while case rates remain high and while younger children are not eligible for vaccines.
The state is now recommending that children who are deemed a close contact will be able to test to stay in school. This is designed to keep kids in school, rather than in quarantine. (But I didn't hear him say they're totally dropping the surveillance testing regimen??)
Scott says 86% of hospitalized COVID patients in Vermont are eligible but unvaccinated.
Dan French now, education secretary. In the coming weeks he says they will be expanding testing strategy in schools. Still working on details and protocols, but he's going to give a broad overview here. (I hope he's clear--I struggle to tweet his remarks.)
On the "test to stay" program, this will be an antigen test (not a PCR test). Kids who are close contacts, not vaccinated, asymptomatic, and who would otherwise need to quarantine could take an antigen test every morning in order to continue attending school.
Response testing is another strategy. This would be PCR testing in schools for testing symptomatic individuals or in the case of a specific situation that is deemed necessary. (I'm not totally understanding this one. Look forward to more info.)
These programs are IN ADDITION to surveillance testing (though that's the one my school says is being delayed) AND take-home tests, which are being piloted in 5 schools currently.
And it sounds like the antigen testing might be a strategy employed to allow for indoor winter sports, but they're not ready to release details on that yet.
Commissioner Pieciak now, with a modeling report. Slides to follow!
Oh, but before that: French also said all of this school testing is voluntary--parents don't have to have their kids tested under any of these strategies (but they may have to stay home in some cases).
Here are national and regional stats. Many states trending down now, both across the country and in the northeast. Vermont still has a lot of pink counties though we seem to be trending slightly down overall, but the rate among unvaccinated is still going up.
Covid deaths, county rates and trends for VT regions here. Deaths occurring mostly in elderly Vermonters, Pieciak says.
Higher ed institutions having very successful suppression of the virus, and higher vaccination rates than the general population.
Long term care facility data here as well. There are 11 active outbreaks.
Long term care facility data here as well. There are 11 active outbreaks.
Forecast here, projected out only 1 week. And vaccination stats.
Mike Smith, Secretary of Human Services, with his update now. Vermonters 75+ now able to make Pfizer booster dose appointments. That expands to 70+ tomorrow and 65+ starting Friday. Again, this is only for those who got the Pfizer vaccine at least 6 months ago.
Smith says he does expect that by Friday other people will also become eligible, including those age 8-64 with certain underlying conditions (same as high risk conditions used last fall for priority vaccinations but also obesity and those who have used or continue to use tobacco)
Also, and people who are in high COVID exposure risk jobs will become eligible for a booster of the Pfizer clinic. These jobs include law enforcement, long term care workers, health care workers, restaurant and food service workers, those working in manufacturing--and others!
Eligible people will need to make appointments at state-run sites. But you can get a booster at any place that does COVID vaccines. They've previously encouraged ppl to go back to the place they got their original two shots.
Smith urges people who have traveled or been in large groups or have any other concerns about possible exposure to go get tested. Testing is free and accessible. (I'm so far hearing from people that they're getting results in a mostly timely manner.)
"You are 4.3 times more likely to get COVID if you're unvaccinated," Smith emphasizes. Urges people to go get their free vaccination.
Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine now. He's going to talk about what's happening in long term care facilities, where people are more vulnerable to the virus due to age and health considerations.
Levine is showing slides, but I don't have a copy of them. He's showing the long term care facilities where there were outbreaks during previous surges and contrasting that with now.
Although we're currently in a high surge, he says there are many fewer deaths in these facilities than in previous surges. And the death RATE is significantly lower. He says most of those deaths are occurring in people at the upper end of the age spectrum.
Levine says those mostly elderly Vermonters who got doses early in the vaccination drive may see their immunity waning, so the state is urging booster doses for those who are eligible under current guidelines.
On recent COVID deaths (July through mid-September): 13 (50%) were hospitalized. 8 were residents of a long term care facility. 5 (20%) died in a private residence (2 of those were in hospice care). Most experienced low blood oxygen. Overwhelming majority had co-morbidities.
Levine anticipates that booster shots will soon become available for those who received Moderna or Johnson & Johnson for their initial doses.
Vast majority of cases in VT right now are not part of an outbreak, Levine says. Only 1 in every 5 confirmed cases can be connected to a specific outbreak. The rest are considered community transmission.
Question time now.
Asked about the Republican National Committee filing a suit against the city of Montpelier over non-citizen voting, Scott says although he vetoed the measure, he and the RNC have different opinions on why they don't support it. Says it's appropriate that it's in the courts now.
Asked if he thinks it's appropriate to fire workers who refuse to get vaccinated (as is the possibility with health care workers in New York), Scott says he prefers giving options, as he has for the state worker mandate. But says employers have the right to set their own rules.
Scott says he's frustrated by the ongoing federal decision to keep the land border with Canada closed to visitors.
On the "test to stay" antigen testing strategy for school children, Levine is asked what has changed since last summer, when he was not in favor of these tests. "Everything," he says.
He continues that Delta has changed things significantly, including the fact that we have so much more virus circulating now that positive antigen results are much more likely to be actual positives, rather than false positives.
Scott continues to push back against those who would like him to declare a state of emergency to enact a mask mandate or other protocols. Says we can't perpetually be in a state of emergency.
Says the virus is here to stay and we have to learn how to mitigate its risks. "We aren't in the same place as we were in the state of emergency."
Points out travel restrictions are gone, restaurants and bars etc. are open, but we're still being cautious. Says that's the future, "so we can't be in a perpetual state of emergency...this is something we have to deal with."
The Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics just put out this press release in support of the state’s new “test to stay” protocol.
The booster program for those in long term care facilities (skilled nursing, residential care and independent living), are mostly being conducted by the pharmacy programs (similar to the initial rollout).
Q about vaccination gap btw white and BIPOC Vermonters. Smith says there will be specific outreach on boosters to vulnerable populations, including BIPOC. Levine says there has been a "dramatic narrowing" of the vaccine gap. It now stands at 2% gap--it was 7 times that early on.
French says surveillance testing is "not really" on hold for schools, but schools have limited capacity to do all the various strategies at once, so those who had not yet implemented surveillance testing have been put on hold. Those already doing it can continue to move forward.
Close to 21% of state employees have not attested to being vaccinated. All of them must mask up and be tested weekly, but this new situation is still pretty new and there are no known disciplinary actions that have been taken against workers yet.
On booster shots, Scott says the administration is going to be "very lenient" on eligibility. It sounds like anyone who thinks they fall into the categories outlined by the state will be able to get a booster (if they're at least 6 months out from 2nd Pfizer shot).
Independent and private schools are eligible for all the testing programs available to Vermont public schools, according to Dan French. He'll be briefing all superintendents today on the test-to-stay strategy and other things.
French says there have been challenges in streamlining the parent consent form for implementing the test-to-stay strategy, but also supply chain issues. Schools will need to get waivers for lab testing. And there are challenges in how to monitor all the data.
Asked about how schools are supposed to implement this, given already stretched staffing resources, French acknowledges that this is a problem. Says the state is trying to create a comprehensive strategy that will allow schools to be able to do this.
But he also goes on to say that this is voluntary (in other words, schools don't have to do these testing strategies), and that what would really help ease the pressure is if cases would go down.
Bottom line though, he says the test-to-stay strategy is a "game changer" for schools that will allow more students to be in-person in school, so school districts are going to have to find a way to make it work. Flow charts will be available from Agency of Ed later this week.
That's it for this week. If you have health-related questions that didn't get answered today, tune in to @vermontedition tomorrow at noon to ask Dr. Levine directly.
@vermontedition And if you're curious about what's going to be on the show for the rest of the week...
https://twitter.com/VPR_Connor/status/1442873927630348291
And if you've gotten this far, and want to give me a helping hand, I'm looking for ways to be a more patient parent when my kids are being challenging, which seems to be nearly all the time these days. (They're 5 and 7.) Tips, tricks, commiseration, encouragement etc. welcome!
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