Officials see worrying signs, but say it’s too early to tell all of the Covid effects of the holidays

Covid-19 cases are increasing in Vermont and the northeast, but it’s hard to say whether the holidays have caused a real surge in the state, officials said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Cases rose 20% last week among neighbors in Vermont, while testing declined. The regional positivity rate exceeded 10% last week, said Department of Financial Regulation Secretary Michael Pieciak, who presented the state report. Vermont’s positivity rate was 2.8% on Tuesday.

Governor Phil Scott said New England, New York and Quebec have reported a total of 170,000 new cases over the holidays.

“These numbers alone are troubling,” Scott said. “But that’s not just the case, as positivity rates in our neighboring states are also on the rise.”

Vermont itself recorded 746 new cases of Covid last week, up from 586 the week before. But it could be a holdover from delays in testing and reporting over the holidays. Pieciak said it had only been 11 days since Christmas and only a few days since New Year.

The state reported 165 cases on Tuesday, above the seven-day average of 106, said Dr Mark Levine, commissioner for the Department of Health. The deaths are in total 149; On Monday, the state added four deaths since September that it deemed “probable” from Covid-19.

More people traveled to Vermont during the holidays than at any other time during the pandemic, but the total number of travelers was still well below 2019 levels, Pieciak said.

The state model shows that while Vermont has a holiday-related increase in line with what other states have experienced because of Thanksgiving, the number of cases is expected to increase in the coming weeks, but will still remain within reach of the state medical system, Pieciak said.

17,650 doses of vaccine administered

The state administered 17,650 first doses of the Covid vaccine, including about 5,000 last week, Levine said.

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That’s more than half of the 30,000 doses Vermont received last week, well above the national average of about 28% of vaccines distributed, according to data collected by the New York Times.

Vermont also compares well to other states in terms of the percentage of its population vaccinated. So far 2,557 doses have been distributed per 100,000 residents of Vermont, the highest in the northeast, Pieciak said.

Officials said the delay between vaccines shipped and vaccines distributed is partly the result of an overburdened medical system and partly the result of uncertainty over how many doses of vaccine will reach Vermont.

“From our perspective, we are going to step up our efforts to get the vaccines out as quickly as we get them,” Scott said. “And it would be helpful if we knew what that supply chain looked like and how much we were going to get each working week on a consistent basis, so that we could step up our efforts and continue to routinely administer the vaccines.”

Scott said there was also a lag between when the state receives the vaccine and when it dispenses it, as well as a three-day lag between when pharmacies dispense the vaccine and when they report it to the state.

Levine said if a shipment arrives in the state on Tuesday, clinics will already be scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but that will not show up in the data yet. “It may seem like we’re late, but that’s the reality of how you plan to deliver a treatment like this,” he said.

The state provided the first dose of the vaccine to about half of all emergency medical service workers and a quarter of targeted healthcare workers, Levine said.

The state expects vaccinations to be completed this week for patients and staff at skilled nursing facilities, and will then move to assisted living and other long-term care facilities, Mike said. Smith, secretary of the Human Services Agency.

Procedure by age group

Levine said the Vermont Vaccine Advisory Board has officially recommended that the next phase of the vaccine prioritize older Vermonters. He recommended that the state vaccinate people 75 and older first, then people 65 to 74, followed by younger Vermonters with chronic health conditions. Federal guidelines are more complicated, and state officials have decided that proceeding by age groups is more efficient and easier to understand.

Given the slow rollout of the vaccine, Britain is prioritizing the first doses of the vaccine, leaving the second vaccine – which offers better protection – at a later date than expected. The second doses should be given three weeks after the first for the Pfizer vaccine and four weeks for the Moderna vaccine, according to the CDC.

While some in the United States discuss the possibility, Levine has said he does not agree with the practice, calling it an “off-label” use of the vaccine which leaves too many questions about its effectiveness.

Britain is also grappling with another problem that may soon arrive in Vermont: a new strain of the virus that is more transmissible than the one currently circulating in the population.

Levine said the strain, which the vaccine will always be effective against, made its first appearance in Saratoga Springs, New York, and is expected to arrive in Vermont.

The state may need to redouble its efforts to tackle the virus, he said. The governor said he wanted to wait and see what happens in other states before deciding to close tuition in person.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is testing samples from states to detect where the most virulent strain of coronavirus has spread. The states of Georgia, Colorado, California, Florida and New York have all reported cases of B.1.1.7. variant, which scientists believe will likely become the dominant form of Covid.