Some hopeful signs amid Vt. COVID data
Downtown Woodstock, Vermont, takes in the late-afternoon sun. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
Vermont is seeing a few hopeful data points and the first vaccine doses have arrived, but following public health guidance is still highly important in the ongoing pandemic, officials warn.
Vermonters largely followed gathering restrictions and other health measures during the Thanksgiving holiday, state officials confirmed at a Tuesday press conference. Those rules included the request that people avoid non-essential travel. In Vermont, mobility was down almost 60% during Thanksgiving week, compared to the same week last year.
“These difficult sacrifices made Vermont the third least mobile state in the country regarding Thanksgiving travel, and we are seeing those sacrifices reflected in our case counts,” said Commissioner Michael Pieciak of the Department of Financial Regulation, which is heading the state’s COVID-19 data modeling efforts.
During the 7 to 19 days following Thanksgiving, Vermont’s 7-day growth rate was “very mild,” Pieciak said, increasing a little over 8 percent while the positivity rate dropped. The state’s case growth shows signs of reaching a plateau, and the Northeast region’s weekly case growth has slowed to 6% in the past week, down from 50% the week before. But not all the data is favorable. Vermont and the region each set records for total weekly case counts over the past week, prompting further emphasis on mask-wearing, avoiding multi-household gatherings, and other health requirements. Vermont also passed a grim milestone of 100 total deaths during the pandemic this week, with the country passing its new total of 300,000 on Monday.
A day after the first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine arrived in Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott noted “this is the beginning of the end, but not the end (of the pandemic).” The vaccine will first go to high-risk health care workers and the residents of long-term care facilities.
“I really hope that being able to see that light at the end of the tunnel, rather than just being told it’s coming, gives everyone hope, because I know we will get through this,” Scott said at the press briefing.
Health Commissioner Mark Levine said the state has placed a pre-order for the Moderna vaccine, which could receive emergency use authorization from the FDA as early as this week.
“We all need to remember that this is just the start of a long process to receive and administer enough vaccine to bring COVID-19 under control,” Levine said Tuesday.
Scott acknowledged the state has “asked a lot” of Vermonters.
“Passing up on sports and so many other sacrifices feels like a lot, maybe too much for some,” the governor said. “But the fact is, I need you, each and every one of you, to make sure we get through the last of this on solid footing, with as little loss of life as possible, with our health care system intact, with our kids having gotten as much in-person education as possible.”
He added, “Together, we can keep each other safe, as we work our way toward the end of the tunnel.”
— Gareth Henderson
