Walgreens to provide vaccine at some Vt. sites
The sun brightens the landscape along River Road in Woodstock, Vermont. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
The state wants more COVID-19 vaccination sites in southern Vermont, and a federal program will soon help toward that goal.
Over 20 Walgreens locations in Vermont will become vaccination sites as part of the federal pharmacy program, and four of those are in the southern part of the state, according to Vermont Human Services Secretary Mike Smith. The program is slated to start at the end of this week, and is expected to deliver between 1,000 and 2,000 doses per week, Smith said at a Tuesday press briefing. That's over and above the state's current vaccine allotment.
Like the state's vaccination program, the federal pharmacy program will start off by vaccinating Vermonters age 75 and older. The state will issue a news release, and include a link on its website, once more information is available about the federal program.
Also on Tuesday, Gov. Phil Scott announced that the federal government will be distributing an extra 500,000 vaccine doses nationwide over the next three weeks — part of the Biden administration's effort to ramp up vaccine distribution. That will mean about 500 more doses for Vermont. Scott learned the news at a phone call between U.S. governors and White House officials.
"Having the three-week supply is key for our planning, so I very much appreciate the way they're doing this," Scott said.
As of Tuesday, 65,100 eligible Vermonters had been vaccinated against COVID-19. Phase 2 of the state's vaccination effort continues, with Vermonters age 75 and older being currently eligible. The next part of Phase 2 includes the 70+ age group, which the governor said is likely to begin by the end of this month. So far, 32% of Vermonters in the 75+ age group have been vaccinated.
In other developments from Tuesday’s press conference, the Vermont Department of Labor continued its work to finalize a contract to provide identity theft protection to those impacted when tens of thousands of 1099-G tax forms were sent out to the wrong recipients. Those forms go to people who filed for unemployment benefits in 2020. Some of the incorrectly sent forms had matching names and social security numbers, but ended up at the wrong address. Officials announced this data breach early last week and cited a corrupted file as a factor in the improper mailings. An investigation is ongoing.
The identity theft protection, Scott said, is free and available to all 1099-G claimants, and will be retroactive to the date of the breach.
"My hope is that this will provide some reassurance, though I know it doesn't come close to making up for the harm and worry that this has caused Vermonters," Scott said. Instructions on how to sign up for the protection services will be sent to all claimants by mail.
The governor also addressed the cost of the breach — which is a lot less than it would have been if the state didn't have insurance. Scott said the state had previously purchased cyber insurance to protect Vermonters in exactly this type of situation.
"Instead of this costing many millions, it will be significantly less," Scott said. "We'll need to of course cover the $250,000 deductible, but the insurance will cover the rest, which is some good news."
— Gareth Henderson
