Tuesday, August 10, 2021
Gov. Phil Scott lauded local colleges, universities and medical centers for requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for employees and said the state will take a similar approach with some of its workers.
Scott said he believes that all hospitals, long-term care facilities and other places that serve high-risk populations should require vaccinations for workers. During his weekly press conference, he said vaccinations will be required for staff of the Vermont Veterans’ Home, Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital and the six state prisons. A potential testing alternative may be offered.
“We have an obligation to protect the most vulnerable under our care,” Scott said, adding the rise of the highly transmissible Delta variant was a key factor in his decision. "We just think it's a good idea considering what we're seeing across the country."
Tags: coronavirus , pandemic , vaccinations , unemployment , Andrew Cuomo , Web Only , Image
Friday, August 6, 2021
Released Friday evening, the mayor's guidance comes just two months after city councilors rescinded a previous masking mandate in Burlington. The 12-member body unanimously agreed to lift the requirement in June after nearly 80 percent of eligible Vermonters had received at least one vaccination dose.
But while that number now exceeds 84 percent, the state has seen increased case counts and hospitalizations in recent weeks. The Vermont Department of Health on Friday reported 88 new COVID-19 cases and 12 hospitalizations — the highest number since May. Eight people are in intensive care.
Tags: coronavirus , pandemic , COVID-19 , vaccination , Vermont , masking , Burlington , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
The requirement was announced Friday and goes into effect October 1. It applies to the nearly 15,000 employees across the hospital network's six hospitals, though employees will be able to request medical or religious exemptions. The move comes as the highly infectious Delta variant continues to surge across the United States.
"The recent rise of COVID-19 cases in our region and across the country due to the highly contagious delta variant has made one thing crystal clear: vaccination is how we control the spread and hopefully end this pandemic," UVM Health Network CEO and president John Brumstead said in a written statement announcing the requirement. "As a health care provider, our consistent message through the pandemic has been to get vaccinated to protect yourself and others, and it is imperative that we do the right thing to protect our patients, our communities and our employees."
Tags: Vaccine mandate , UVM Health Network , John Brumstead , Web Only , Image
Tags: University of Vermont , COVID-19 , masks , college , Web Only , Image
Thursday, August 5, 2021
Two of the infected employees work at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, and the other works at Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury, according to the state.
Only one of the South Burlington staffers was said to have worked on a prison unit near incarcerated people.
Tags: Vermont Department of Corrections , COVID-19 , Prisons , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, August 3, 2021
Districts should ask students to wear masks regardless of vaccination status, French said at Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly news conference. Later, at schools where 80 percent of students over age 12 and staff have received at least one dose of vaccine, the guidance calls for districts to allow vaccinated students and staff to remove the masks. Students under 12 aren’t yet eligible to be vaccinated.
French noted there won’t be any social distancing in the state’s guidance, which is expected to be issued this week.
“Masking is a good strategy at the beginning of the year as students and staff settle into patterns of full in-person instruction,” he said.
Tags: back to school , dan french , coronavirus , pandemic , masks , Web Only , Image
Monday, August 2, 2021
A recent surge of COVID-19 infections has placed Chittenden County under new federal recommendations that encourage vaccinated people to resume wearing masks in public indoor spaces.
But with rates of hospitalization and deaths still low in Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott has no plans to reinstate the statewide masking order that remained in place throughout last fall, winter and spring, according to spokesperson Jason Maulucci. Four people were hospitalized with the virus as of Tuesday, while two deaths were reported in July.
"If you are fully vaccinated, we believe you are substantially protected, and people shouldn't feel the need to wear [a mask] if they don't want to," Maulucci told Seven Days. "You should feel confident in the efficacy of the vaccines and safe to do things that you did prior to the pandemic."
Tags: COVID-19 , Coronavirus , mask mandates , Gov. Phil Scott , Burlington , Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
After dropping for months, the rate of COVID-19 deaths started rising nationally and in Vermont in mid-July as the more infectious Delta variant took hold.
And on Tuesday, several national media outlets reported that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control would start recommending that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in some areas of the U.S.
Tags: Phil Scott , Mark Levin , vaccinations , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
“I’m sure the congressional delegations and governors of every border state to the north are probably furious right now, and rightly so,” said Jeff Lawson, who is vice president of tourism and marketing at Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce. “I’m pretty upset about it.”
Northern state governors and members of Congress have been pushing the White House for weeks to open the border. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has shown impatience with the White House, especially after the Canadian government this week announced that travelers would be able to enter Canada from the United States on August 9 without quarantining in a hotel “provided the COVID situation is under control.” Scott said he has asked the White House to reciprocate, saying it is now safe to do so.
Tags: Canadian border , Jackson's Lodge , Web Only , Image
Monday, July 19, 2021
Hundreds more travelers were expected to make the journey by car, stopping to eat at the popular 160-seat restaurant in Derby and to hand-feed the friendly elk pastured next to the parking lot.
COVID-19 put the kibosh on those trips, and the extended closure of the Canadian border has deterred travelers from plying the busy route through Derby to Québec. Manager Melissa Nelson said Monday she hopes that Canada’s decision, announced Monday, to start letting American citizens and residents into Canada will get that traffic flowing again.