Vermonters age 70 and older can make vaccination appointments starting Tuesday

Vermonters aged 70 and older will be able to schedule an appointment to receive the Covid-19 vaccine starting Feb. 16, officials said at a news conference Friday.

Those Vermonters, about 33,000 people, make up the next group in the state’s age-band strategy, which prioritizes older people, Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said. The state will then move to people 65 and older, followed by Vermonters with high-risk conditions.

Anyone can now create an account on the Department of Health’s website in preparation for the registration process, he said. Vermonters age 70 and older can register online for an appointment or by calling a designated phone line, starting on Tuesdays at 8:15 AM

Vermonters can also book an appointment through Walgreens, which will get a separate allocation of vaccines from the federal government.

About 38% of people 75 and older have received their first dose of the vaccine through the current trial, Smith said. That includes 538 homebound Vermonters, who receive doses through local home health agencies and emergency medical services.

In all, 12.5% of Vermonters ages 16 and older have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, with 37,200 people starting and 32,600 people completing, the department said.

Gov. Phil Scott reiterated his defense of the aging process, saying it has allowed Vermont to move through the process smoothly compared to its neighbors who have considered broader categories. “Just saying people qualify doesn’t mean they actually have the doses to cover them,” said Scott.

“That’s why we’ve seen other states cancel appointments, perhaps scheduled months in the future, even for people in their 70s and 80s,” he said. “Here in Vermont, we’ve taken a different approach to setting realistic expectations based on the offer we know we’ll receive.”

Music programs are restarted

The state will resume music programming at the school next week as the school sports competitions resume, officials announced at a news conference on Friday.

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The music programs will have several new restrictions to limit the spread of viruses: performers must have a distance of 6 feet around them, instrumental performers must wear a slotted mask while performing, rehearsals are limited to 30 minutes and performances are allowed do not have a personal audience.

Education Secretary Dan French said music is a “more challenging” area as officials considered reopening school activities. But the low number of cases has made them feel confident in their ability to do it.

“Some of our limitations indicate … there’s a lot involved with musical instruments (which) function differently from the aerosol manufacturing perspective – flutes, for example, are much safer than oboes,” he said. “The mitigating measures for music are therefore relatively complex.”

Singing will also be included in the new accompaniment, he said. Civil servants are still looking for ways to revive theater and performing arts.

“As we consider moving into a recovery phase in education, enabling these types of activities will become an important strategy to meet the socio-emotional needs of our students, and will go a long way towards becoming a restore a sense of normalcy in our lives, ”he says. said.

Cases soar in Franklin

Franklin County hit a new record for a one-day case count of 36 on Friday as the state grapples with multiple spikes in the number of cases, according to Department of Health data.

The state reported 162 cases on Friday, up from 126 the day before. The state has not reported any new deaths, leaving the total number at 189.

Hospitals are diagnosed with Covid-19 in 47 people, including 11 in the ICU, a slight decrease from the previous days of nearly 60 hospital admissions.

Health Commissioner Mark Levine said Franklin, Bennington and Rutland counties were struggling with the virus, but their cases could not be attributed to outbreaks; instead, most come from community transmission within and between households.

He also spoke about announcing the discovery of the Covid B117 variant in Burlington wastewater, saying it needed to be confirmed with genomic sequencing from a positive case to confirm that it was really found in Vermont.

The increased transmissibility of the variant could lead to an increase in the number of cases, which would increase hospitalizations and deaths, Levine said. But he said at this point there was no need for additional restrictions or guidance.

He said recent research from the federal Centers for Disease Control found that double masking or tighter masking can significantly limit the spread of the virus. “If you’re concerned about the fit of your mask or want that extra protection from a tighter fit, it might be worth a try,” he said.

The CDC also recently said that people who had received both doses of the vaccine in the past three months and experienced no symptoms should not go into quarantine if exposed to a Covid case, Levine said.

“This is really great news, showing that we believe that vaccination not only protects you from infection in those 90 days, but also prevents you from spreading the virus,” he said.

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Music programs are restarted

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Cases soar in Franklin

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