Appointments that opened up before the expected date for Vermonters 65 and over to get the Covid-19 vaccine have all been filled, officials said at a press conference Friday.
Walgreens on Thursday opened up vaccinations to that age group earlier than planned because of a higher-than-expected federal vaccine allocation, Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said.
“That was an allotment that was higher than anticipated, but we knew the supply was limited — I think it was about 4,300 doses,” he said. “So right now Walgreens is full, and we pretty much knew that was going to happen, given the size of the group.”
Walgreens is one recipient of a pilot program from the federal government to distribute vaccines directly to pharmacies rather than to the states. Gov. Phil Scott said at a Tuesday press conference that many governors were worried about the lack of control over that program.
In response to questions on Friday about some Vermonters’ confusion over the last-minute rollout, Scott said the pharmacy’s infusion of doses provided an “enhancement” to the ongoing vaccine program. “It was a limited supply, but we wanted to get that out there as quick as possible,” he said.
Smith said the state would be working to better coordinate with Walgreens about future allotments. “These pharmacy programs are going to be essential in terms of how we look at our vaccination strategy moving forward,” Smith said.
Vermonters 65 and over will be able to register for a vaccine appointment through the Department of Health website, and through Walgreens and Kinney Drugs websites, beginning Monday at 8:15 a.m.
[Read our updated FAQ: How to sign up for the Covid vaccine]
Nearly 18% of Vermonters 16 and over have received their first dose of the vaccine, including 72% of Vermonters 75 and over, and 25% of Vermonters 70 to 74. Roughly 47,000 people have received just the first dose and 51,000 have received both doses of the vaccine, according to the Department of Health.
To register for a vaccine appointment, visit healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine (preferred) or call 855-722-7878.
You will be asked to provide your name, date of birth, address, email (if available), phone number, and health insurance information (if available, but not required).
Variants not found, but still a concern
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Test samples from the Burlington and Bennington areas have not uncovered any cases of a Covid variant in Vermont so far, said Dr. Mark Levine, commissioner of the Department of Health.
Burlington has found samples of Covid variant markers in their wastewater testing, but Levine has said the state is trying to confirm the presence of the variant in Covid-positive individuals in Vermont.
“We continue to send Burlington samples on a weekly basis to see if any of them will show the sequences, but Vermont is really one of only a few states that have not yet found a variant in the PCR testing that we do,” he said.
A new variant has been found in New York City, and some evidence suggests the vaccine will not perform as well on that variant, but Levine said “we just don’t know much about the ones in New York City yet because literally, they just announced it within this week.”
He said the next month could prove an inflection point in the fight against the virus, a “critical month” for everyone.
“We’re going to have increasing amounts of people with natural immunity and vaccine-mediated immunity, which is going to be a wonderful thing,” he said. “And we hopefully will still have the impact of positive behavior change that occurred after the holidays.”
But those signs of positivity could lead to a false sense of security, with some states easing restrictions. “Most people in the infectious disease and epidemiology community do not believe for one minute that we can ease up on all of the things we do every day,” Levine said.
“We shouldn’t relax because more people are getting vaccinated,” he said. “We should realize that we don’t want to see more of these strains like the ones in New York City; we could be very focused on trying to continually do the behavior patterns that we’ve been trying to practice all along for just a little while longer.”
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