Vaccination of Vermonters 75 and older will begin in the week of January 25

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After people aged 75 or over, the state will expand eligibility for people aged 70 and over, then 65 and over, and then younger Vermonters with underlying diseases.

Smith said everyone in the population 65 and older will be vaccinated by the end of winter.

Vermont’s strategy is different from federal guidelines that urge states to immediately open vaccine eligibility to everyone over 65. Vermont officials believe that their “age group” approach, starting with the state’s oldest residents, will avoid confusion and chaos.

The goal, said Smith, is to save lives. “The older you are, the greater your risk of serious illness and death from coronavirus,” he said.

Age is a big factor

State officials released a graph showing that death rates are highest among individuals between 75 and 100 years old.

“The older you are, the more vulnerable you are to serious complications and death from the virus. Since the start of the pandemic, about 92% of hospitalizations in Covid, Vermont have occurred in people over 60, and more than 80% of deaths have occurred in people over 70, ”said Governor Phil Scott.

The governor said the state continues to struggle with “an extremely limited supply”.

“We must focus on these populations first,” said Scott. “This will not only reduce the number of deaths, but will also ease the pressure on our hospitals and healthcare systems. We believe that this is the simplest and easiest way to understand, as well as the most efficient and effective way to vaccinate vaccinated Vermonters more quickly. ”

People who register for vaccination appointments must keep them. Failure to attend can cause the vaccine to deteriorate and hamper the state’s efforts to immunize as many people as possible.

Vermonters should plan to receive the second dose of the vaccine at the same location where they received the first dose, said Smith. There will be clinics in all parts of the state, considering the reach of rural communities and people of color.

Dr. Mark Levine, the state health commissioner, said that education and communication efforts will be targeted at black communities.

“[We want to] make sure we’re involving members of your community who are eligible, ”he said. The location of vaccine clinics within walking distance of neighborhoods and interaction with family members to ensure that all members of large families are vaccinated are under discussion.

High-risk youth

For the first time, the state announced on Friday the conditions that will qualify the youngest high-risk Vermonters to be vaccinated after the population aged 65 and over ends.

Levine said the following would qualify: current cases of cancer and people with chronic kidney disease, COPD, a variety of heart diseases, any immunocompromised condition, severe obesity, type 2 diabetes, Down syndrome, sickle cell disease and pregnancy.

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These are almost all conditions that the CDC considers to be high risk, except for people who smoke, which Levine said was excluded because “it is not really a condition”.

Also excluded are a broader category of conditions that the CDC says may be at increased risk, but has not been confirmed, including asthma and high blood pressure.

People will have to prove their Vermont residency to qualify for the vaccine, Smith said, with one exception: if your primary provider is in Vermont. “So if someone lives in the Upper Valley, but the doctor is in New Hampshire, they should still get a vaccine in Vermont,” he said. Many Vermonters seek out doctors at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

So far, the state has administered about 35,000 doses to almost 30,000 people, said Smith.

The plan is to vaccinate all residents of assisted and residential homes for the elderly by the end of January. Health professionals, emergency responders, hospice workers and home health personnel are also in the process of being vaccinated by this time.

The state has the capacity to immunize 9,000 people a week.

State approaches 10,000 cases

The positivity rate of the state test is now around 2.7%. The total number of deaths rose to 163. About 44 people are hospitalized and six are in intensive care.

Levine said the state is following 42 Covid outbreaks and that the total number of cases is expected to exceed 10,000 next week. Only 11% of cases, however, are associated with outbreaks, he said. Most infections are transmitted by the community.

The highest rate of positivity is in Addison County, due to an outbreak caused by a Christmas meeting at Victoria Baptist Church in Vergennes, said Levine.

The state has received a number of complaints about Covid in ski areas, but Levine said that while there have been “sporadic cases among employees”, no outbreak has been associated with a resort.

“We are not seeing cases of transmission of the ski itself, or of social activities related to skiing,” he said.

• Correction: an earlier version of this report had an incorrect number for how many people are hospitalized.

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Age is a big factor

High-risk youth

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State approaches 10,000 cases

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