 Before we start I want to congratulate Megan Nick who was raised in Shelburne for winning a bronze medal in Beijing This is her very first Olympics and she meddled in her first event We're all incredibly proud of her accomplishment, and we look forward to celebrating with all our Olympians when they return We've got a few topics to cover today including tax relief and Mass in schools, but first I just got off the phone with White House officials and fellow governors, and here's what we heard CDC Director Walensky I said that they are reviewing their guidance, which he reminded us is made on a nationwide basis It was noted by a fellow governor that the CDC is falling behind where the public actually is and she stressed that personal Responsibility and Individual decision-making is key for decisions like wearing masks, which we've been talking about here for quite some time Dr. Fauci again reiterated the importance of boosters Other than that there wasn't anything new Next as you know before the school year began our guidance of schools was For schools was to require masking until 80% of students were vaccinated Unfortunately that recommendation was delayed several times with a decision point scheduled for February 28th Our team has decided not to delay it again Throughout the pandemic we've led the nation in so many ways, and we've done so by taking an incremental approach And this won't be any different So I want to be clear the 80% guidance will be the first phase in a process We think this is the right step because it was something we developed at the beginning of the school year and Something schools have had the time to think about and plan for as February February 28th approached However, the schools should know this is only the first step in the very near future if all goes to plan We intend to recommend lifting the mask requirement recommendation all together Over the last few weeks several other states most led by Democrats have moved in this direction But for awareness many states with Republican governors have not required masks and schools to begin with Across the country many public health experts are advising schools To move away from mass mandates and other strict measures in schools And given our nation leading vaccination rate No place in America is in better in a better position to make these changes than Vermont We're in a new phase with this virus We have more protections and tools to use and we understand more about the impacts of mitigation measures All this means it's time to adapt Because the fact is our kids need to get back to normal They've been through a lot So we should begin this transition as soon as possible. I Want everyone to understand that this came with a lot of thought and Deliberation and we would not be making this change if we didn't think it was the right thing to do But as I just laid out between vaccination Omicron and more data from around the globe the time for a shift is now The risk of kids not being able to see the faces of friends Anxiety that comes with a constant reminder of this virus and the ongoing strain on our kids mental health is Far outweighing the risk from COVID amongst this age group and guided our decision Even though I think more will be upset. We're not moving faster I know for some moving away from masking won't be comfortable and they may want to continue wearing them and that's okay We we need to be respectful and kind because as we move forward It's individual circumstances that will drive these decisions and everyone has the right to make those calculations for themselves Secretary French will have more details in a few minutes Next we're also joined today by Craig Bolio the commissioner of taxes Who will walk us through the tax relief initiatives included in the budget? I presented to the legislature For years I've talked about Vermont's affordability crisis And I put forward a number of initiatives to provide tax relief for everyday Vermonters My 50 plus million dollar progressive tax relief package would benefit tens of thousands of Vermonters Make our state more affordable help attract workers They help families with kids and much much more It includes helping seniors by expanding the income tax exemption for Social Security Finally eliminating the tax on military pensions Expanding Vermont's child and dependent care tax credit Allowing Vermonters to deduct 100% of the student loan interest paid on their taxes providing income tax credits for critical sectors like nursing and childcare and Increasing the earned income tax credit to help low-income families and more These proposals will benefit more than a quarter of Vermont taxpayers and go a long way Towards making Vermont more affordable and growing our workforce So with that I'll turn it over to Commissioner Bolio for more details Thank You governor and good afternoon everybody. I'm here today to talk about the 50 point five million dollar comprehensive and progressive tax relief package that the governor has proposed This package would expand proven programs and create new strategic credits and deductions To help make Vermont more affordable and help address our workforce challenges It would help families make ends meet it would encourage young workers To grow their careers in Vermont and it would allow more seniors on a fixed income to retire comfortably So let's talk about what's in the package First the governor has proposed an expansion of the Vermont earned income tax credit The earned income tax credit supports about 40,000 lower and moderate income Vermont workers and families by giving a tax break based on earned income It's an existing federal and Vermont credit that is recognized as a very successful anti-poverty program the credit available for low and moderate income families particularly those with children and Can make a difference in the lives of these remaners and because it's based on earned income it can help enhance our workforce Current Vermont law allows recipients to receive 36 percent of the federal earned income tax credit on their Vermont tax return The governor has proposed increasing that to 45 percent This increase would elevate Vermont to match the most generous fully refundable earned income tax credit in the country Second The governor has proposed a significant expansion of Vermont's child and dependent care tax credit This credit helps both lower and middle-income working families pay for child care While Vermont currently offers two versions of this credit Most families receive 24 percent of the federal credit on their Vermont taxes The governor's proposal would expand that to be 65 percent of the federal amount a family qualifies for and would Make the credit fully refundable for all families, which means if the credit is more than they owe in taxes, they'll get money back This would help about 14,000 sorry would help more than 14,000 Vermont families pay for child care expenses and Would give Vermont one of the most generous child and dependent care tax credits in the country? third the governor proposes Increasing the existing thresholds on Vermont's social security income tax exemption by $30,000 Vermont currently allows seniors with with less than $45,000 of income or couples with less than $60,000 of income to fully exempt their social security benefits from Vermont state income tax but 37 states don't tax social security benefits at all through their state income taxes that includes our neighbors of New York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts Other states that offer a partial exemption like Vermont are almost all more generous than our current treatment By offering this modest expansion of the thresholds We would be more in line with other states and reduce the tax burden on an estimated 25,000 Vermont seniors each year And along the same lines of helping retirees the governor has proposed exempting all military retirement pay from state income tax Vermont is one of only three states that fully tax this income right now National data shows that 70% of military retirees retire between the ages of 35 and 50 That means these retirees can join our civilian workforce and bring skills and experience to help with our workforce challenges Many retirees also bring working spouses to join our workforce and children to enroll in our schools Data from the Department of Defense shows that since 2016 our population of military retirees in the state has been essentially Stagnant despite additional Vermont service members retiring Exempting this pay would help the nearly 4,000 retirees here now and 750 surviving spouses and dependents as well as make Vermont more attractive for new retirees Fifth the governor is proposing to make Vermont more affordable for both young workers and middle-income families by allowing all Vermonters to deduct all student loan interest on their state taxes This would expand upon of an existing federal credit that caps at 250,000 sorry $2,500 of interest paid per year and Vermonters who have significant student loan payments often exceed that cap We believe that this proposal would help reduce the tax burden for more than 16,000 Vermonters who either hit the federal cap today or are otherwise ineligible for that deduction and In addition to the programs I've already outlined the governor is also targeting two specific sectors Experiencing exceptional workforce shortages nurses and child care workers The governor proposes offering every registered nurse advanced practice registered nurse licensed practical nurse licensed nursing assistant and nurse educator who lives in Vermont and works for a Vermont health care provider a $1,000 annual refundable tax credit This proposal is part of a comprehensive retention and recruitment package for nurses that includes increased scholarship opportunities and expanded loan repayment programs in addition to this tax credit to help Vermont recruit retain and educate more nurses and Reduce Vermont's reliance on traveling nurses and additionally the governor is proposing to offer a $1,000 Fully refundable income tax credit for all child care workers who are providing private pre-k or child care services Within the regulated system The governor believes that this credit will help recruit and retain additional child care workers To ensure that we have the workforce that we need to offer Vermonters affordable and accessible child care services in closing We all want Vermont to be an affordable place to live and the governor's proposed package will provide meaningful tax relief to more than 25% of Vermont resident taxpayers and will help support Vermonters through several different stages of their lives Thank you. I will now hand it to Secretary Samuelson Good afternoon I want to follow up on the governor and commissioner Bolio's comments about tax relief I want to highlight three of the proposed Tax credits that are related to the agency of human services and the services we provide One of them as stated targets the nurse workforce. The other two are related to child care providers parents and guardians As is the the case with most human services The pandemic has made it clear that the need to better support our health care system the child care workforce parents and guardians There are a number of initiatives to support health care and child care These ones that we're going to talk about today are specifically related to the tax system Starting with the tax credit for nurses There is a significant shortage of nurses in our health care system as We've discussed previously. We have supported the health care system throughout the pandemic by using traveling nurses As we transition out of the pandemic we need to move away from the reliance on travelers Working to retain the nurses that we already have here in Vermont recruit new nurses to the state and address the nursing pipeline Including more nurse educators in the state of Vermont The proposed tax credits outlined by Commissioner Bolio is designed to support our nurses and nurse educators in Vermont And to attract new nurses to the state specifically the $1,000 credit for nurses and nurse educators The governor's budget request also includes as previously stated scholarships for Vermonters and out-of-staters Who tend nursing programs at colleges in the state of Vermont? In return these nurses commit to working in Vermont for every year of the scholarships that they receive That budget request the budget request also includes loan repayment for nurses who are currently working in the state of Vermont and working with Vermont based employers In addition to helping child in addition to helping health care staff Another part of supporting the Vermont workforce is alleviating the cost for child care and Working to shore up our child care workforce Childcare costs are challenging for many of our families in Vermont One of the tax credits in the governor's proposed budget will help make child care more affordable for Vermonters Especially those Vermonters served by the agency of human services It would expand the child development tax credit and make it available to families whose children are in child care programs This change would provide support for over 14,000 Vermont families The governor's included in addition the governor has included another tax credit focused on the child care professionals The child care workforce tax credit would provide it as stated a thousand dollars to approximately 5,500 child care work workers in the state It is considered a retention and a recruitment incentive in order to help continue to build the much needed workforce and to increase the professionals that we have working in Vermont These expanded tax credits and exemptions will help our Vermont workforce and families Sustain our child care system and as we begin to recover from the pandemic are an important component of how we continue to move forward Finally for today, I want to announce that I want to remind folks that we will be announcing the wait time study at a press event tomorrow at 10 a.m. Here in this in the pavilion in the Snelling conference room We will we ever committed to providing throughout the throughout the study a thorough evaluation of the results And are appreciative of the time it's taken given that the significant amount of data that we've received in order to give careful consideration Thank you, and now I'd like to turn it over to Commissioner P check Thank you very much Secretary Samuelson and good afternoon everybody Looking at our COVID presentation this week. We continue to see improved Trends and good news across the region across the country and here in Vermont as well Looking across the country every single state except for the state of Maine which has had some Reporting issues on their cases have seen cases drop this week So in many of these states they're down over 20 percent So we're continuing to see significant improvement close to home But also seen significant improvement across the country hospitalization rates across the country are down 15% and finally the fatality rates in the country are starting to decline as well down six point or seven point six percent Looking at our Vermont data again We see continued improvement here with cases down about 23 percent over the past week We're reporting just over 760 cases this week. That's the lower lowest weekly total were reported since November 1st So that was well into the pre-Omicron period. So certainly seeing our numbers get back To where we were in the middle of the Delta surge And we expect them to get even lower as we continue forward testing is down about six point seven percent But with the rate of case decline that we're seeing the positivity rate is continuing to drop as well And as you'll see on the next slide the cases are going down across all age groups Particularly important among those older more vulnerable Vermonters as we know they're Most likely to have severe outcomes from hospitalizations or deaths Fortunately, those numbers are coming down our long-term care facility active outbreak cases are also coming down And college campuses are relatively stable. The numbers are up just a bit this week at 148 But again pretty stable among the college campuses Looking across the northeast as we mentioned we're seeing broad improvement in our region The cases are down about 29 percent You can see that Vermont is right in line with the other states in terms of the decrease in cases that we're seeing This was of course not something that happened with the delta wave So we're very fortunate and very happy to see this Happened though with the with the decline in Omicron Gives us more confidence that the trends we're seeing here in Vermont are not just localized in Vermont But they're broad regional trends and improvement So looking at our modeling slide we do anticipate that cases will continue to fall throughout the rest of february and into march We do think that there'll still be, you know, some virus hanging around our state Whether that's a hundred cases a day or 200 cases a day. Hopefully we get even lower than that But there is an expectation that we'll have some level of virus around the state over the next four weeks And finally looking at the fatality model You know, we are waiting for the fatality numbers to come down They are continuing to be on pace for for what we experienced in january But we do expect the second half of february To have the fatality rate decrease Based on where our cases are where the cases are among those that are most vulnerable And also where hospitalizations and admissions are so those are all trending in the right direction And we should see our fatality rate come down here over the next two weeks Looking at the hospital admissions. Those are down 30 percent. So fewer people going to the hospital We've been in the single digits over the last couple of days. So that's really an encouraging sign And that's resulted in our hospitalizations declining. So those that are currently hospitalized down 15 percent We're now 16 straight days where the hospitalization numbers have been under 100 And we're now sort of in that low 70s into the high 60s range And anticipate further improvement over the weeks ahead Same on the icu. Those numbers are down about 10 percent and you can see that We continue to see that trend now for a number of weeks. We're down below 20 icu beds People with cobit. I should say in the icu down below 20 beds for the last four days So those all trending in the right direction as well looking at hospital availability The overall medical surgical beds are pretty stable They're a little lower obviously than I think we'd like to see they're down in that sort of 40 to 50 range Well below where they were during the delta surge and prior to the delta surge, but they are pretty stable Of course, that's not covet that's impacting that the covet numbers are coming down And same on the icu the icu availability has trended down But obviously there's fewer covet cases in the icu. So that is not the contributing factors other factors outside of covet Again looking at the percentage of people who are boosted that end up in the hospital compared to those who are not The data continues to hold over the last six weeks Seven times more likely for someone who's not vaccinated to end up in the hospital compared to someone who was fully vaccinated and boosted And then finally turning to our fatality data You'll see that we are reporting at the moment 30 deaths for the month of february as we said This is sort of on pace for the number of deaths that we've seen in January and december But unlike those months, uh case rates are coming down quite significantly We are seeing the hospital admissions come down Quite significantly and anticipate that that will follow suit in terms of the number of fatalities that we see for the rest of the month And then looking again at the the data that compares those that are not fully vaccinated to those who are boosted The data here continues to hold up as well 7.5 times more likely to die for those that are not fully vaccinated Compared to those who are boosted over the last six weeks. So again all the more reason to get boosted We know that we have over well over 100,000 vermonters who are eligible for their booster shot who have not yet gotten it You can see on this final slide that we had just over 2,600 people get their booster shot this week So that's probably uh, there's pretty much the lowest number we've seen since the boosters become widely available So we really would like to see uh that number go up And uh those 100,000 plus vermonters that are not uh yet gotten their booster shot to do so as soon as they can So with that i'll now turn it over to secretary french Thank you. Commissioner peachek. Good afternoon I'm going to start with an update on two initiatives that we announced last week around testing First the supply for antigen test kits for our tested home program and schools remain strong So we're moving forward with expanding this testing to independent schools Second, we also announced a school staff assurance testing program Each school staff member will be provided two antigen tests uh each week to use on a voluntary basis The department of health recommends that staff who wish to participate in this program Use the two tests three days apart for example staff might test on sunday before the school week begins and then again on wednesday Now I have a couple of new announcements that we preview previewed these initiatives last week First as a testing opportunity when returning from february vacation Next week most of our schools will be out on the winter break To help schools with a return from vacation will be sending extra tests out this week The deliveries will include two tests per student. These are antigen tests Students are encouraged to test twice at least 24 hours apart In the days before returning to school after the winter vacation Testing is voluntary and it's not required for students to come back to school after vacation Next as we mentioned last week in the governor foreshadowed there's a lot of conversation about mass and schools at the national and regional levels Notably massachusetts and connecticut announced that they are not going to be requiring mass and schools as of february 28th And then recently rhod Island has announced an effective day to march 4th These states started with amicron earlier than vermont and they're also exiting the amicron surge earlier than us as well Although we remain optimistic about the trends we're seeing in vermont We're not ready to jump to a recommendation for the removal of mass altogether But I expect that recommendation will be coming at some point For now we will go forward and implement the recommendation We've had in our existing guidance that schools with a student vaccination rate of 80 percent or greater do not need to require masks This recommendation will go live on february 28th as per our guidance The 80 threshold was written into our guidance back in august, but we delayed its implementation on several occasions Primarily to allow student vaccination rates to increase and you might remember when we wrote the guidance back in september Students in age 5 through 11 were at that point not eligible for vaccination Now that we have achieved one of the highest student vaccination rates in the country We are increasingly confident masks can be removed altogether But we prefer to make incremental steps towards that goal as we have done throughout the entire pandemic A phased approach in our opinion works best for a couple of reasons We're still exiting from the amicron surge And this approach gives us a few more weeks to see those positive trends continue to play out after the winter vacation We also think the schools and families need more time to prepare for this change When we do make that recommendation, it'll be just that a recommendation Local school districts will be able to choose to implement it or not Although we encourage them to follow the state recommendations which are crafted in collaborations with our public health experts at the department of health To help make this eventual transition as easy as possible Schools should be reviewing their local mitigation practices and seeking to eliminate the unnecessary ones now By unnecessary, I mean local measures that go above and beyond state recommendations and contribute little to virus mitigation For example, I've heard about schools not letting students talk during lunch Or schools that require students to wear masks during outdoor recess Or to play in small groups or pods on the playground None of these types of measures are necessary And they send the wrong message to students that our schools are not safe from the virus Eliminating these types of measures now will help students and staff with the transition to the eventual removal of masks Why we know we'll continue to see cases in schools. Our schools are very safe They are perhaps some of the safest in the country if not the world Due to our high vaccination rates and robust access to testing We do need to get our students in our schools back to normal as soon as possible This means we need to allow our students to do normal things in schools like talking at lunch And playing on the playground with all their friends, not just those that are in their immediate class or grade This also means they need to be able to see the faces of their classmates by not being required to wear masks This will become increasingly important as the recommendations are made To wear masks outside of school are being lifted And our students and staff transition from those settings to the potentially more restrictive settings of school Most of our schools will be on a well deserved winter vacation next week Some students and staff will travel Many will enjoy the outdoor activities of our beautiful state Whether traveling or playing outside Many will experience a welcome break from being required to wear masks since they are not in school Now with the widespread availability of vaccines A school's mitigation measures should be the same as those found in a larger community Increasingly schools will not require separate mitigation strategies Masks have been useful in limiting the risks of spreading the virus within our schools But they have also created a lot of anxiety and placed significant limitations on teaching and learning in our classrooms The risks from the virus continue to decrease and that's important to acknowledge So we need to address the issue of requiring masks in our schools So our students like their peers in Connecticut Massachusetts and Rhode Island can get back to their normal routines as soon as possible This will not be happening before winter vacation or immediately afterwards But if continues conditions continue to improve I expect that decision will be made soon And with enough notice of schools and families will have sufficient time to adjust That concludes my update. I'll now turn it over to dr. Levine Thank you I have a number of items to discuss this morning in terms of updates While the current picture of COVID-19 in Vermont continues to improve We continue to plan for the future Unfortunately, the world has had to accept this virus is not going away And new variants may emerge But public health experts and scientists And we in Vermont believe will soon be able to coexist with the virus More safely for several reasons First we'll have a lot more immunity both from Vermont's high vaccination rates And now from more of the population having been infected Second Omicron has proven to be milder for most people Especially those who are vaccinated And third we have experience with this virus even though it has changed so we know who is at most risk This means that rather than broad recommendations for all Vermonters We will be more focused in our public health efforts on reaching higher risk populations Working to get them up to date on vaccines and making sure they have access to timely testing and treatment We'll continue to follow trends in our COVID data to make informed decisions as we have been doing throughout the pandemic The type of data that we look at is already shifting to metrics like hospitalizations wastewater surveillance focused surveillance testing And genetic sequencing And we'll continue to be a critical way we monitor the virus going forward Though we plan to move deliberately over the next weeks to months There will be people who want or need to move at a different pace and that's okay As we have these past two years plus We will all need to weigh our personal risks and decide which protections make sense for our own situation I encourage each of us to make these decisions using medical and science-based information And then we all need to accept these individual choices with empathy and without judgment As we move forward with this we must also truly balance the precautions we take for COVID-19 With the need to recover from all of the other negative impacts we've endured throughout this pandemic This is the health debt. I've mentioned before The public health concerns that have grown or developed during and as a result of the pandemic Whether that be addressing substance use mental health food insecurity Or improving our own behaviors in health that we can see are contributing to chronic conditions Or the social emotional development and well-being of our children and ourselves Or some lingering effect from the pandemic we haven't even realized yet These issues weigh heavily on us all and we must prioritize them now as soon as it's safe to do so Now I have a few updates on the booster front with two recent studies from the CDC's morbidity and mortality weekly report First one a review of surveillance data Found that adverse reactions to the messenger RNA vaccine the Pfizer or Moderna Were less frequent when people received the same type of mRNA booster Then after getting their second dose So less adverse effects After the booster than the second dose This should give people more confidence that they can get their booster shot safely The other study that took place across 10 states Analyzing messenger RNA vaccine effectiveness against COVID associated emergency department and urgent care visits Did show some waning of immunity by the fourth month after a booster But it was still quite protective I believe this highlights the need to continue to collect this type of data To inform us about future booster decisions something. We're asked about weekly here We also want for monitors to know that a new monoclonal antibody has received emergency use authorization from the FDA You're all going to watch carefully to see that I can present pronounce the name of this new antibody But it's beb to lova map Vermont is expected to receive 100 doses this week This is yet another tool to use against the virus And I again urge anyone at higher risk who tests positive To reach out to your health care provider to discuss treatment options soon And as soon as you can get your result Finally, I want to speak to parents and caregivers of children under age five The FDA had planned to begin reviewing data for a vaccine for this youngest age group this week But instead decided to allow more time for evaluation Including data on a third dose Now I know many parents may be disappointed by this delay, which may now push back the process until april But I believe this is good news As the scientific process was at risk of being pushed faster than the data would support Regarding dose and number of shots required for strong immunity It means we will have a much better picture of the vaccine's effectiveness And we'll be able to recommend the vaccine with more confidence when it is approved Lastly an update about our dashboards First you will see a change to our vaccine dashboard tomorrow And that is to show how many Vermonters are up to date on their vaccines Which of course means a person has received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines Including any booster doses when eligible And you all know my bias here You are not fully protected unless you are up to date with the booster dose We also Have a new addition to our data reporting Later today we will begin publishing the results of tests that were self reported by Vermonters These are the test results people reported to us through the form on our website While we know that these reports likely only represent a fraction of self reported tests out there This reporting helps to fill in the picture of how many tests for COVID are being done They are not included on our case dashboard because they are not among Vermont's case totals reported by the CDC Thank you to Vermonters who've been reporting these tests at healthvermont.gov Slash report results to help us capture this data Now I'll turn it back to the governor Thank you. Dr. Levine will now open it up to questions Starting with both some room Governor do we know at this point what percentage of schools have reached that 80 percent thresholds? We're trying to gather all that data as we speak. We should have more information next week on that Um, we just need to to make sure that we can get some accurate information Do you know if it's maybe half more than half? I don't believe it's it's it's a smaller population, I believe But we want to make sure that we have the accurate information and we encourage those students To get vaccinated so that we can get up to the 80 percent thresholds where they get a financial incentive as well as Being relieved with the mass mandate Governor as we mentioned there there seems to be a disparity in terms of the vaccination rate especially for 5 to 11 year olds In chitlin county. It's uh 78 percent where in Essex it's just 27 So maybe for your dr. Levine, I guess in terms of as we approach this february 28th date What risk does that pose and also what is the state doing to help get those numbers up for younger? Yeah, and again, we continue to encourage all to get vaccinated we think it's the future and we think it'll give protection in the future And we'll continue to educate those who Don't don't want to follow the guidance as to why this makes sense. We hear a lot From people who say well, I've had covet so I should be I have immunity to covet Well, that wanes as well. And and I think that that's the the piece that's missing And so we need to to continue to educate Vermonters about that real-life situation Levine The only couple words I'll add to that you you cited sort of the best case and worst case scenario in the state but it wouldn't surprise anyone that Throughout the state the performance in the five to 11 year olds mirrors that of their parents so High performing counties versus lower performing counties sort of are the same for that set of data but the other thing is that You know Through january and even now we continue to have school-based clinics And opportunities around the state We're not really letting up We will be at some future point, but we're not We haven't been letting up and Not allowing a variety of settings for getting the vaccine whether it's a health care provider A school or community-based clinic or a pharmacy Those are still all available And it comes to the to dropping some unnecessary mitigation measures in the schools Maybe this is a question for the secretary for actually students on having to wear masks outside and things like that Are those also just recommendations for the schools? Are you pinpointing schools that are doing these unnecessary things and trying to get them to drop those or we're providing Guidance again. This wasn't mandated to begin with it was guidance And we'll continue to give guidance where we think it's appropriate and it won't be targeted to one specific district It's overall What we've heard what we've seen and what we can do now in the future secretary french Yeah, the governor's i mean we we're trying to approach this in a general way Certainly we hear instances of these things I think you know the What surface in the last couple of weeks particularly as we're contemplating the sort of i'll call it glide path towards an endemic disposition towards the virus You know on the one hand we have the science and on the other hand We have the perception of the science and that's that perception of the science the metrics and so forth That's created a lot of anxiety inside of schools And what we started to notice of some of these mitigation approaches that people think they're out of an abundance of caution doing these things They're really contributing to this heightened anxiety inside the school You know, for example, I've heard of a school that has not been allowing students to use their Library at the elementary level because they didn't want to open a larger congregate setting for students But if you can remember what it was like at elementary school And you might have enjoyed going through the library and often in our schools the library is the hub of the educational experience If not the physical location of the building What kind of message does that send to students that like, you know, if you had to explain to an elementary student Why can't we go to the library? You know because of covet fear of covet, you know, it's not so we we have to really start to just confront those issues right up And I think that is something we can all work on I think individually we have to work on our own comfort level with risk But then collectively and to the governor's point about being respectful and You know just being kind to our neighbors everyone's going to have a different approach to this Sort of perception if you will the risk and we've all you know, particularly in schools We've been through a pretty amazing experience the last two years for many folks. It's been traumatic. It's certainly for most It's been stressful And that those filters need to just be explained and talked about openly But now's the time to start confronting those types of issues because I think that ultimately will ease the transition to When we start changing the larger health mitigation recommendations at the state level and again I think those are going to happen broadly in society. It isn't just going to be schools Increasingly we'll see the no need for specific mitigation recommendations inside of schools For some of those overly cautious schools, I guess just in general How confident are you that they that come february 28th if the 80% is reached that they actually will follow the state recommendations Yeah, I mean we we know schools have You know really accepted our recommendations when we put out there, you know with the mask to begin with the school year So I think there's been a high degree of I would say compliance but Willingness to follow that direction at the state level But then again, you know as we're seeing across the country this will become a local decision So we also want to be respectful of communities willingness and Readiness to move forward in these areas and these as we saw, you know in the first year of the pandemic Sometimes it's more difficult coming out of the mitigation strategies and it is coming going into them So we want to send a signal put the tools in place But also be respectful of that local decision making so we can get the majority of people moving in the right direction Just add to that As well I think they're going to be a number of schools Who are going to decide on their own That they don't want to wait for the 80 threshold and that they will move forward With mass removal Before they reach that threshold as well. There was one other and Secretary french, I don't believe I talked about this one, but In some schools and it was surprised me I guess To learn that in in some schools while kids are having lunch They actually have to do it at different times. They're in different rooms And they actually turn their chairs around face the wall to have their lunch six feet apart And the anxiety level that must bring to kids and what they've been experiencing over this amount of time And think about even at the height of the pandemic and all the mitigation measures we put into place You could still go into a restaurant or a bar for that matter and take your mass off And yet there are some students that weren't able to do anything like that In schools where they're actually probably much safer And then they would be in other situations So that's what brought this to light and we think that it's important The kids get back to normal to tamp down the anxiety and the anxiousness That exists in the schools right now. It's having an effect on our kids a negative effect on our kids considering that we are very close to the two-year anniversary of COVID's arrival in our state and the the first deaths Also considering Vermont's excellence in stone carving both in granite and marble I wonder if your administration has considered anything like a call to artists to You know commemorate What this pandemic has meant for our state? Of course Vermont already has monuments to polio Spanish flu We've heard from some families that think that it would be a nice thing If if the state would commemorate their losses in such a way any thought about that? Yeah, I think it's a good thought Obviously, we've had our head down paying attention to the task at hand Which is the pandemic? haven't had thoughts about um after the pandemic but but I think in Months and maybe the next year or so we should contemplate that. I think it's a good idea We've been through a lot and uh and for people to reflect on that and But we need to get through it first and we're we're getting closer every day The proposal that passed through the Senate the charter change uh braddleboro letting uh 16 and 17 year olds of vote in municipal elections. Yeah, as I've said in other Areas with charters and charter changes. I just think it should be consistent throughout Vermont So if we're going to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote We should take that up on a statewide basis and make that decision as well, you know It isn't lost on me some of the conversations we're having in the state house right now about brain development and decision-making and and sealing records and and and discharging some some offenses because the brain isn't developed enough for 18 19 20 21 22 year olds It gives me, you know, I have to question whether that's a good idea To allow them to vote at 16 and 17 years old so Suffice it to say i'm not in favor of that proposal I wanted to drill into the tax proposals a little more as far as as you know I'd love to talk about taxes or tax relief. I should say as as you know, the legislature seems to be moving in a somewhat different direction At least with their $1,200 annual child tax credit Is that something that that you would support? Listen, I think any tax relief is important But we don't have an infinite amount of Of money to do that So interestingly enough Our tax proposal is about 50 million dollars Their tax proposal is about 50 million dollars. There's as much more targeted to a different group. I think it's mostly for for those with children And up to people making a little over $200,000. So it's a smaller sector. I think it Reflects about 10 of the population. Maybe ours is much broader and it affects Different age groups demographics and different levels of Opportunity so Ours will help about 25 of our models. So I again ours will will help a broader group There's is targeted to a smaller population But if there's a way to combine the two or to do both I'm in favor because I think that we are Again a very high tax state And and i'm thrilled to see the legislature considering any tax relief at this point in time Mr. Bolio Yeah, thank you governor So yeah, the governor has the details right there H510 is the child tax credit proposal that's come out of the house That's for families who have children six and under So as you heard from the governor the the package that he put forward is really affecting a broader swath of romaners Signaling that that will support them through a number of different stages of their lives Right sharing the goal of helping families with young kids But also families with kids who are older than that or maybe young workers who are starting their career who don't have children yet So we're excited again to be debating the details of this Hopefully the legislature will will take under consideration some of these proposals that we think are are very effective to provide Meaningful tax relief to a number of different demographics in bramont that that needs some help On to the phone starting with lisa the ap Thanks, jason I'm sorry. This question was already asked. I couldn't hear some of the earlier questions Do we have a sense for how many schools or how our schools are near that 80 percent rate of vaccination? Yeah, lisa that was uh, that was asked before we don't I had the exact number at this point in time. We're trying to put it all together Um, there had to be some agreements worked out between the department of health and the agency of education So we just want to make sure the number is correct It's not as high as we hoped but but we'll see when the numbers come out and we'll be able to report on that I think uh next week And that's where you said you think it's like half or they're like at 50 percent No, I don't I don't believe that to be the case. Um, I believe it's a smaller number But we have to determine, you know, which schools and and the populations of the schools and so forth So we'll uh, we'll be able to give you accurate information when we obtain that Okay, all right. Thank you. That's it Greg lamaroe the county courier Greg county courier. We'll try Aaron botanico vt digger Okay, um about the uh the school mask Your requirement in the end of it. Um, we don't currently track how many cases are happening in schools So are we going to know if this? End of the role is going to cause a rise in cases Um and closures among schools well again, uh Aaron We have for quite some time at focus more on hospitalizations than case counts But we continue to see case counts drop as well as hospitalizations drop But we do keep track of the age groups. Maybe not the schools, but we we keep track of the age groups from zero to 11 and then 12 to 18 I believe or something of that nature. So it's the categories are there so you we can draw conclusions from that Dr. Levine Aaron every age group in the state is dropping quite precipitously in terms of our cases, uh, and we did show one slide Earlier that demonstrates that but specifically we also have a report each week on the pediatric age groups And the rate of cases in that grouping is now very close to the general population uh rate Uh and for so long a time it had been much higher And it has really come down very very nicely. So we do think that Cases across the age spectrum that are in our k through 12 schools Are having a very nice drop off Okay, um I also I kind of wanted to know, you know What is the long-term future of how you will use masking in schools? Is this going to be a permanent shift towards unmasking or If another variant comes by or another wave occurs in the coming months and years, are you prepared to require schools to mask again? Yeah, to clarify Without a state of emergency we recommend that schools require but but besides that Um, the reality is and I do like the way the cdc director refers to this, you know masking Is often referred to as a layered mitigation strategy And it can be layered on or Withdrawn Depending upon the environment that you're in and what's going on So none of us In vermont in the country or the world see another variant on the horizon right now, which is great Uh, but obviously we all know things can change and so we have to be very very Observant and make sure we know ahead of time if one is coming but The reality is that It is a layered strategy and as it gets withdrawn If the climate around stays the same there should be no need to Put it back into play And that would go for schools that would go for indoor public settings general population whatever strategy you're talking about so I would not advise people throw their masks away forever and burn them in a big bonfire saying the pandemic is over But at the same time we don't see anything coming right now and as these things do improve Uh, the masks won't be necessary and could be reserved for a time that they would be in the future Um, I also I notice notice that you said many public health experts are calling for this But I haven't necessarily seen any sources or studies that you have Cited saying that this is safe where that's necessary for students What do you have to say to parents who say well, maybe the psychological effects of um having a mask are balanced out by being able to stay in school because You know mask prevent outbreaks mask prevent school closure Yeah, so I mean if you uh Canvas and survey the parent community you will find viewpoints on all sides Just like you can find a public health expert on one side or another should you choose But there's no denying that there have been harmful impacts To our students social and emotional development and academic development in schools Which is what we're very much focused on at the same time The mask itself shouldn't be looked at in isolation It's an integrated process where we look at Not only dashboard data such as hospitalizations And serious outcomes Which are pretty much absent in our schools, but we also look at vaccination rates We look at the opportunities for testing and what testing has shown us in various settings And all of this is integrated together and I think parents should understand that It's not one Particular point that is being Taken in one direction or another, but it's an integration of a lot of information together All set Aaron. Okay. Thank you There there are a number of studies that have been done. There was one hot off the press today I haven't had the chance to look at it, but If it's something pertinent Aaron will be sure to get it to you Uh as well, I mean I I do I watch CNN quite a bit and and um, that's not exactly a right-leaning Uh media source and there are a number of Experts there that are saying it's time. So I think uh, I think I think we'll find uh in the in the very near future There'll be a number of studies that will be coming out Advocating for this Good afternoon. I believe my question is for dr. Levine Dr. Levine, you mentioned the efficacy Of the boosters dropping after four months according to some studies Will Vermonters be able to seek A fourth shot Or will they need to wait for cdc guidance where they need their doctors to prescribe one for them How's that going to work Sure, so let me uh, just quote you from the study That the cdc provided if you looked at the efficacy for hospitalizations the booster The the efficacy dropped from 91 percent to 78 percent That's still pretty robust So most people are looking at data like that and saying well, there's no emergency to Get the rate to 90 percent. We would like it to be at 90 percent, but at the same time it was still quite high And so the impact of having the booster was significant Four months later, uh, it had dropped to 78 percent, but uh, we don't know what goes on beyond that So longitudinal studies will be very very important But there was no, uh, urgent need based on that data It was more reassuring that there was still a robust amount of efficacy now having said that People are always concerned about the duration of time and the presence of perhaps other variants Beyond omicron that might impact these numbers differently That's why this is still an ongoing uh Study really to be able to ascertain that people's immunity will stay where it should be And this is also limited to more Conventional studies of immunity as well And I think we're going to make some maturation in our ability to understand How well people have Retained memory cells and other aspects of their immune function As time goes on to answer the question about for monitors the Only people who've been authorized for the so-called fourth dose Are those in the category of immunocompromise? So We obviously continue to provide that for that population It's done by self attestation at a State site or at a pharmacy or with your own Physician so that uh, anyone in that category should be readily able to get their shot in terms of the general population Just wanting to have an extra dose We're not counseling people to do that at this point in time and um That is not something that is a national policy None of the bodies that make recommendations regarding vaccination schedules like the advisory council and immunization practice or the cdc or fda Have actually weighed in to say that should happen yet So, uh, we are going to not break new ground in vermont in that arena We're going to follow the science and when the science tells us We should actually offer these extra boosters that will happen Great. Thank you very much Dr. Fauci was on the call with the white house this morning And he pretty much said everything that dr. Levine had said that they're not ready to To commit to a fourth Booster at this point in time. They need more data And just don't think it's necessary and he said the same thing about the 78 percent That's still really really good and to prevent severe illness So and stay out of the hospital. So they're uh, they're going to continue to to collect the data Thank you Tim quizton for my business magazine Hi governor, um as in your as governor and in your previous political life in the legislature as lieutenant governor you um Not favored creating um ongoing expenses and it seems with your tax plan that Especially as in regards to the tax credit it creates a de facto ongoing expense And i'm wondering how and I can see the legislators Saying oh, well, you know, the governor is is going along with that. Maybe we'll do some other stuff um I'm wondering how you What you think about about that creating um Uh, essentially an ongoing um obligation Well, again, it's strategic in many ways whether it's to Attract more in our workforce, which we desperately need to give a tax break to the working poor And that that is effective in helping out in some of the programs that we have But we're also seeing a lot of general fund growth as you know And uh, so I'd rather spend it in that way to give Tax relief to our over tax residents of vermont Then develop new programs. So developing new programs. Um, I think is uh that that we can't afford in the future would be Would hurt the cause. Um, we need to fix some of the the problems that exist today and again I think uh, I think vermonters are over tax. We've seen Whether it's the military tax that uh, that all but Three other states or three states in the country have have done away with And again, the EITC is proven to be Very effective and uh, so we need to we've experienced that and and I think that we'll have beneficial results as a As a means to to help those living in vermont But again attracting people we need more people in the state It needs to be more affordable So that that's uh, the sort of the crux of it because you could you could you know You talk about 10 of the legislatures. I'm talking about our 25 of the population you're talking about Well, if you did a general income tax cut or a general property tax cut it'd be almost 100 of the population So is it really that that sort of workforce development? Strategic well, we would we would entertain that as well If you want to add that in any tax relief packages that we can put together We would contemplate But again our proposal just affects the abroad demographic of our state From from young to elderly And part of it is strategic in trying to attract more people to the state again That we desperately need and keep more of of those graduating From our Colleges universities and high schools and tech centers to stay here in vermont So we just have to make it more attractive for people to stay as well On the economic front anything anything the state can do to help us Burlington with the um the mall closing down that you know, it's for the foreseeable future. It's going to be a hole in the ground Well, I mean, that's a ongoing issue that the the mayor has taken on and I think that they're They're dealing with that obviously We're we're trying I mean we use the the TIFFs and so forth to do everything we can to incentivize renovations within communities And and it's not to say that I'm Not concerned about Burlington or chitin and county for that matter, but I am much more concerned about the other 11 12 13 counties throughout the state and the rural areas of the state that really really need our help So I'm going to focus on on the forgotten Counties and to make sure that we can We can help them To regain some of their Economic independence All right, great. Thank you Hi, yeah, um, I have a question about contact tracing. So I believe that'll be for dr. Lazine Several weeks back the health department began encouraging homeowners to do their own contact tracing Since the state's resources couldn't keep up with the high number of cases so given that along with the Rising prevalence of at-home testing as well as the shifts we seem to be experiencing in the pandemic I'm wondering what is left of the contact tracing for dealing with vermont's covid cases And what specific kinds of situations or cases are they focusing on? Yeah, thank you for that question. So we've actually been telling vermonas to think about all the things about contact tracing for a very long time now And have had this on our website so The principle being when you test positive You need to know you have to isolate and what to do about that Secondly to try to understand where you were in the 48 hours before You became symptomatic. So you'd know who you were with what circumstances you were under and you could begin to Inform those individuals very early much earlier than any contact tracing workforce could possibly work Knowing of the inherent delays in a system that relies on getting the result and then getting somebody to make phone calls so What's happened most recently? Is with the rise of amicron and the rapidity with which it spreads and the amount of contagiousness it has Traditional case investigation and contact tracing have stopped making sense from a public health standpoint Not from just a vermont public health standpoint from a general public health standpoint And that's why the public health Structures around the country And state health official and epidemiology organizations have all said something to that effect So it's really that general population contact tracing that actually Is not efficient enough in a broad-scale sense across the country to deal with a variant like amicron And that's why individuals can deal with it much more effectively So our contact tracing workforce, which we still have With regards to amicron is still working in very high vulnerability settings So we have outbreak response teams that respond in long-term care settings homeless shelters Correctional facilities places where there's congregate living all of that's still very important and that continues on And then of course people don't even recall There's a whole contact tracing workforce dealing with non amicron infectious diseases That are very traditional diseases that we've had forever and ever Whether they be sexually transmitted diseases tuberculosis Gastrointestinal illnesses etc that continues on as it always has been Does that answer your question? mostly, yeah so To expand a little bit more on that Is there a point at which contact tracing will no longer be useful? At all even in those settings that you just described like is there a point at which it will become sort of obsolete as a way of containing the spread of the virus? No, no, absolutely not for The broader set of infectious diseases and for SARS-CoV-2 virus it will still be relevant It's just that One has to then be very focused in applying it Because of the populations that are at highest risk for serious outcomes But for something like amicron for the general population where it spreads so rapidly and it's very contagious And it predominantly in the non vulnerable people Produces very mild or almost no illness in many Um, it's no longer an important tool, but it's not something that's now outdated and will never Be needed again. It's it's still a core public health tool Thank you Thanks Jason Governor, uh, have you gotten much feedback about the military pension tax? So far from the legislature. Is that one of those they're willing to move on? I've heard Where they may Well, certainly from uh, there's a caucus there's A military national guard. I think caucus That is highly involved. They had a press conference Recently on the subject I think that's was effective, but but I haven't heard anything directly to me about it now Okay, thank you another question The recently we were reporting from a information we received from the state police office about saturation patrols and This particular one was was held From nine to 11 in the morning on a monday morning And it picked up six traffic stops including Four people going over 90 miles an hour and then one person with a DUI our readers were Frankly shocked that they weren't shocked about the 90 mile an hour and they can see that but they also the realization that More people are impaired at different hours than it seems like they have been Is that practice used to be pretty successful? Is that something that might get increased? I think please I might uh might ask commissioner shirling to to respond to that if he's on certainly, um, the state police traffic they became Is constantly assessing the efficacy of different tactics to try to ensure highway safety. So We haven't discussed this in uh, I haven't discussed this in detail with the colonel, but I imagine Replicating successful initiatives is something that He can anticipate would likely happen Commissioner, do you do you see it as the saturation patrols being successful initiative? Uh based on your description of that particular one. Yes, I think uh when they're done in a way that informed by trends by Um, oftentimes informed by where we're getting complaints about aggressive driving and things of that nature And informed by data. Um, we've uh, we've asked for or we've had some data analysis done on the relationship between Traffic crashes and enforcement and trying to correlate those things and that work continues with a new records management system as well It's really ensuring that you're you're using the limited number of resources we have as effectively as possible and So it's it's not just randomly putting out saturation patrols as long as they're informed by The information that we we've got and then they continue to yield results and it's something I think that makes sense to replicate Do you ever have asked the state police to go out and ask for More hotline types of reports from people who are on the roads I've not asked that question specifically. I know that we get a uh, and every time my radio is on there's a significant number of reports that are coming over The radio frequencies about people over monsters calling in Aggressive driving. So I'm not sure if something we need to encourage more of In a specific way. I think for monitors are doing a pretty active job of it already Okay, thanks very much. No other question Tom maybe just to add to that because I did read an article about this It does seem like there's a negative residual effect of the pandemic In terms of driving either impaired driving recklessly higher risk As a result of the pandemic and I'm sure that we'll be studying this for a while But as you probably know, we had more deaths on our highway last year than we've seen recently But that is uh, that is being seen across the nation as well And it's just has something to do with the pandemic and risky riskier behavior So, um, we'll uh, we'll continue to to study that Um and and see, you know, if that If we're able to To transition out of that as well I did want to go back to the you asked about the military pensions and one It's Something that I'm concerned with in terms of the legislature. They did focus on one piece of legislation as was mentioned Targeted for the those who have children upwards to over 200,000 in income That would would affect about 10 percent of vermonas Would help 10 percent of vermonas What I think What i'm concerned with is that they passed that without really taking up our bill and I think You know for it obviously passed because there's a number of people On both sides dial that maybe appreciate helping out Those who need help and as well as giving tax relief But when you don't have anything to compare to From my perspective that becomes problematic So I'm in hopes that they will take up our bill and give it a fair opportunity in the in the legislature on the house side in particular and then Send it to the to the senate as well Because I think that both need to be Given their day in court so to speak Okay, much appreciated. Thank you Yeah, thanks. Good afternoon. Um the shift in the student math guidance I believe there'll still be a tail end of the indoor winter sports season By the end of the month and lasting into march do you see any Shifting guidance for masking during during sports Or is that even One of the measures that you might be calling for to be lifted before the end of the month You know, I haven't uh, I don't believe we've talked about that as a group But it's it would be my understanding that we probably lift that at the same time But maybe secretary french has the answer Yeah, hi. I mean, you know just to underscore we're We're making the announcement on the 28th. That's been in our guidance for quite some time going back to august I'll be it. We did push that date back repeatedly Most recently in january You know, we're certainly want a message that we're heading into that direction of contemplating The mass and we're trying to do that in a thoughtful manner as possible. So districts will be able to ease and have a smooth transition to that and we'll certainly Assess to what extent that would apply to sports and Again to what do what we can to help schools with operationalizing as smooth as possible and some of the anxiety And nervousness that you described that the students are experiencing. Do you think Simply a shift to To greater normalcy Will alleviate That or are there going to be additional measures that are going to need to be taken for the benefit of the students? Yeah, I think it's part of the puzzle, but no, I don't think it all rests on this We have as we've described previously An interest in shifting the system towards what we call education recovery and particularly at the state level We have additional resources that need to be brought to bear Those programs need to ramp up, but at the same time we do need to address. I think very directly The anxiety levels and I think as we contemplate The education recovery planning sometimes it gets represented Generally as the idea of mental health, but I think there's a lot more to it I think we'll also need a discrete strategy for staff wellness underneath that as well All these things have to be brought in together But I think it is important at this moment that we really I think to a certain extent take stock of the great work That's gone on But acknowledge that we're again at one of these moments of transition The good news is we're on the transition of lifting some of the mitigation requirements But that that's hard work too But we need to we need to as we have throughout many of these transitions seek to balance the public health risks with the educational risks An anxiety is a pretty prevalent Observation among school leaders today when I talked to them even pre pandemic Just the heightened level of anxieties that seem to exist in this generation and certainly the pandemics exacerbated a lot of those issues and Those are ones we're going to have to take on very specifically and try to surface those best practices around the state And I think that sort of transcends the mental health idea, but it's it's clearly I think going to be situated in a broader plan of recovery for education Thank you for that a quick one for dr. Levine if I may Boosters somebody who got two doses of the johnson and johnson Is there any eligibility or need for them to consider getting an mrna? Booster That actually is recommended so That could be fine Oh, that's so if that's that's not the original johnson. Sorry. I should qualify that that's for the immunocompromised For the general population They had a choice of getting an mrna for their second shot uh, but That's as far as it goes at this point Okay, so no eligibility for them to choose a third shot of something other than johnson and johnson at this point among the general population Right, there's no third shot yet for that group Okay, thank you very much Good afternoon governor the legislation has legislature has approved teenage voting and holding elected elective office in brattleboro What are your thoughts on 16 years old and older voting statewide And will you veto this bill? Yeah, I commented earlier about this specific proposal I think it should be taken up by the legislature On a statewide basis if we're going to have and not do a piecemeal across the state in just one area I do question Whether 16 or 17 year old should be voting in general elections Uh, so I I'm not favorable to that proposal, but I think regardless That should be debated in the legislature on a statewide basis rather than piecemeal in one uh community Thank you, um, is it ever appropriate for a vaccine under emergency youth authorization To be considered for a mandatory requirement for public school enrollment Not as far as I'm concerned, but I'll let dr. Levine answer that I think most of us would feel We assured that something was approved before doing that Um, it's not all I can say. It's a hypothetical circumstance right now. Okay. Thank you Yep, so Mike truner reports All right, can you hear me? Am I beeping? We got you. All right, I'm here Great, um You shut this very quick And is there my question is the three guards earlier you were talking about The incentives for schools to up their vaccination rate. I know you said that was a recommendation But in any case our question is is this going to cause nurses and principals to coerce kids or families To get an experimental phase vaccine and I think you just answered with died page that if it's experimental There may not be requirements for that either But um for the regular vaccine you think this could cause um Some conflict between the schools and the and the homes I don't believe so Okay, I think it's you know personal choice and decision But the more who are vaccinated and get to a certain level They would receive some sort of financial reward To be spent on something the student body would determine That they wanted to advocate for so it's not in the interest of the nurses or Administrators, it's really about the kids Richard living And I just want to make clear The word experimental is probably not appropriate here Something under emergency use authorization. You're not in a study Trying to figure out if this vaccine works or not The vaccines that have been granted emergency use authorization have been through a very rigorous process And the only thing that's lacking is the usual amount of time that the FDA waits to give approval So they give emergency use authorization during an extraordinary circumstance like a pandemic But it's not an experimental therapy at that time And if I may one more quick question Are we studying as a state are we studying more about students who have natural immunity for the virus versus the status of vaccine in children? Again, I think earlier I'd mentioned that there's this Notion that if you have Have had the virus that you have immunity forever from that and that's just not the case That it's been clear from data that Has been derived already and I'm sure that they'll collect more data along the way That shows you can get it again And it does wane at a faster rate than vaccines Dr. Levine Yeah, and the combination of what you're calling natural immunity with superimposed vaccine Mediated immunity is still considered to provide the best protection going into the future Sort of a super immunity if you will The question you asked are we studying vermont students? No, we aren't we are not independently studying just The children in vermont This is part of a bigger national picture Okay, well, thank you Ed barber and report daily express Greg's clinic spending commander. Thank you um, my question is also about the masking policy Uh for the governor for secretary french, what would you say to teachers and staff who are concerned about the listing of mask mandate? Particularly if they are immunocompromised or caring for family or loved ones, we're at greater risk Secretary french Hi, Greg. Yeah, I think you know we'll we'll have a broader recommendation for schools But I think we're we're every where everything's heading ultimately is down to that sort of individual assessment So if there are individuals that need specific accommodations, whether it be in school or other employment settings, they should be working with their employer But you know to the governor's earlier Initial comments today this idea of respect and kindness to each other I think you know we need we need to accept a disposition that Personally we might need to be wearing masks and what how we think about the risk might be different than the person next to us And we need to get to a place where that's okay And I think that will play out in schools just like it will in the broader society Thank you. I'm just trying to catch up with your quote. Um, are there any vaccination requirements Thought of being considered for the next school year for staff As a recommendation or as a requirement by the by the agency of education No, that wouldn't necessarily be an agency of education requirement You know there was a conversation at the national level with osha that would have had implications for school staff At this point, it's really up to the specific school districts to contemplate that issue with their staff And I know several maybe a handful of districts have moved forward with that Basically leveraging their employer employee relationship to require vaccination But it's not necessarily something we would enact at the state level All right, thank you very much That concludes my question Good afternoon, can you hear me now? Yes Thank you. Sorry about that Let's see, um for secretary french as opposed, um, you know, nobody wants to go backwards on this The trend that's happening in schools right now. I know we're seeing our cases in our school district It go down and attendance is getting better But I know a lot of school districts had an explosion of cases right after the january break ended and everybody returned to school with Sort of haphazard testing at that point. It's encouraging that there's going to be test going homeless students this week That they can use before they return Um, but it seems like the 28th of february is still during breaks march 2nd has went a lot of schools are going to be reopening um, are you suggesting that they come back day one no math or um, you mentioned sort of increments and i'm wondering if there's any sort of consideration for getting Everybody back to school after break and sort of going through those days that they might need to be doing their second test or whatever Um before germs start to spread that everybody's collected while they've been gone for a week Um, I'll first of all, let me I'll make a few comments on that and let the others add to that um We are providing guidance. We have said all along that the 28th of february Was a pivot day. We would make a decision, you know, we've extended this For a number of months and we have to make a decision. We've told everybody we would by the 28th So our guidance is to lift That masking if you obtain 80 percent So this will give some time between now and then I don't think you'll see The vast majority of schools who have attained that level. So it's not as though it's going to be Um, the wild west out there so to speak. It's very measured In uh incremental and by design Secondly, we've seen I mean you think back It wasn't just three or four weeks ago That the legislature was still contemplating a statewide mass mandate I'm not sure that they'd feel the same way today that they did three or four weeks ago But they were prepared To vote on a statewide mass mandate at that point in time. That just shows you how quickly Things have changed and we saw this in south africa It peaked And then dropped like a rock Afterwards and we're seeing that here and we saw it in other countries. We're seeing it here in vermont We've seen across the country here And we'll continue I believe Based on everything all the data we've collected It'll continue another week or two from now or three Um, it could be Much more dramatic. So I think Our guidance again Is incremental It's measured And uh, and they'll be able to make decisions on their own now a school might say Um, this is the state guidance. We might want to wait a day or two or a week That's up to them. It's up to the school district to make that call But they're going to be others who might Say we don't care if we attain 80 percent or not We are going to lift our mass mandate. So Again, that's just the way the district school districts work in vermont. We're just providing the guidance secretary french Yeah, hi, you know just to be clear What we're announcing is that what was in our guidance? All along and most recently updated in january is that on february 28th Which for most districts is the first day back from winter vacation Um, that's when districts or schools that have greater than 80 percent may choose to remove their mass So it's not something that's happening in the middle of vacation. We understand there are several that extend their vacation through this this particular Uh configuration when we have town meeting on the other side But for the most part the 28th is you know, manageable and doable It certainly will affect a very small number of schools relatively speaking But again, what we're we're messaging is that we're on sort of this broader glide slope if you will towards endemic This is an important. I think first step albeit It does affect a very very small group of schools But we want schools to start thinking about moving in that direction And I you know to your point about you know where we were and the idea of no one wants to go back I think that's a good one And I think it just calls out, you know some of the challenges of the decision making so we do I think have a perception now the vice the virus sort of operating on a cyclical level with variants and what have you But there's a couple other factors that are involved in our decision making that aren't cyclical and one an important one Particularly to draw a through line from the fall to where we are now Is that we've been increasingly lowering the risk from the virus through vaccination? So we started school in september as I mentioned previously with no vaccination being available to 5 11 That's been building building building throughout all these ups and downs in delta and amicron As you know vermont's The national leader or one of the national leaders in 5 through 11 vaccination And most all the other vaccination indicators as well So that's that's a linear progression that needs to be understood in our decision making The other the other one is the idea of risk to students from an educational perspective And that also is a linear I would think but it's also an accumulating risk assessment So unlike the cyclical nature of the virus Students have been in this two-year experience. I put staff there as well And the risks from an educational perspective are building and growing And this is where you see a lot of the national conversation emerging now and acknowledgement even from a health perspective I won't say even from a health perspective because I think our pediatrician community has always been very strong advocates in this regard Students need to be in school. That's that's a that's a public health concern if they're not And you know the at some point we need to keep reconciling these these competing risks, if you will We're at that point clearly across the country and particularly in new england That's the direction we're moving So we're trying to do this in a thoughtful incremental way as we have throughout the pandemic to let folks know That's where going so they can be prepared to make those Transitions and have those conversations at the local level where those decisions will ultimately be enacted All right, well, thanks. That's good to hear on the incremental part I just feel like I think a lot of people are seeing glimmers of progress right now and There's just a lot of you know I guess just weariness that you know the last thing everybody wants to see is to Have a week off and then and then go right back to where we were in january and see the merry-go-round start again With you know more cases and kids having to you know Get contact tracing letters and testing and and more spread so until the windows can be open And that's one of the things that the school district folks are talking about that soon when spring is here And they're able to open more windows The ventilation will be better and that all of those things together are going to probably be a good combination to You know see a really serious dropping cases. Yeah, you know, I would I appreciate what you're saying in that regard I would just again, you know, we're at a fundamentally different point in the amicron curve than we were in january We we saw amicron heading our way unbelievably quickly But that's not where we're where we are now And I really just you know, I don't mean to cut you off, but I want to send that strong message This is not a time to invent mitigation measures out of an abundance of caution the idea of opening windows Let's wait and put off and put off, you know Last summer we saw schools that still want to wear masks during the summer programs out of an abundance of caution When we're providing these recommendations, this is the best public health thinking on this We're really stridely encouraged districts to heed that and follow the direction It's you know, this idea of creating abundance of caution mitigation measures is sort of a downward spiral And it's hard to come out of that I'd really you know, folks need to really tune in and follow those mitigation cues as they come out Okay, great. Thank you. I have one quick last question for dr. LaVine if possible Looking at the numbers on the the dashboard today dr. LaVine It looks like we're just over 109,000 people in vermont that have had covid Um, presumably the state knows who they are right if positive cases are reported, you know, who's who was had covid I'm wondering as you look ahead into the future With the health department and the the data team there Is there any plan to be checking in with the folks that have had covid to see how they're doing to see who might still be having Symptoms and and dealing with what you know been termed as long covid to see what they might need If people are back to work as they had been previously before they they were sick to get a handle on how that population is Is doing from a public public health standpoint Yeah, so the 109,000 Are predominantly PCR tests and so we do know who they are keep in mind. There are people who Will have done antigen tests and we don't know who they are unless they've reported to the site We're not checking in with each of the 109,000 But we are working with the university vermont as we speak are crewing patients who have symptoms of long covid and working to understand Them better and see if we can participate in What's going on nationwide and worldwide and trying to understand that population better Understand risk factors understand demographics understand Natural history So all of that is happening, but that's only a subset of the entire Population that's been infected That's because you hear do you anticipate being able to report on that and I don't know probably months months out probably to gather that kind of information and Sit through it, but I think that would be really interesting for the public to be able to get a handle on what that looks like Yes, no, absolutely. That's uh, that's the goal that will be months off But again, you've given me the opportunity to tell the public that Currently we still believe For adults at least a 10 to 30 chance of having long covid symptoms if you've contracted covid Hopefully a little less so with amicron, but we don't know that for a fact yet. It's too soon in time So if you have not taken the opportunity to either get vaccinated or to become up to date and fully protected on your vaccine Keep those statistics in mind Thank you Okay, great. Thank you very much. Lisa. It's just to pile on and reinforce Um throughout this pandemic over the last few years you've heard us talk all of us talk about listening to the health experts watching the data listening to the science and when you look at the amicron variant in its predictability it's it's been incredibly consistent Both in its But it's trajectory increasing and also decreasing So that gives us great comfort when you look at other countries Who've experienced amicron before us and have seen it decrease As well as other states who who started decreasing before us and they're still decreasing. So we benefit from that just again Listening to the science watching the data and making decisions that we think are appropriate With that We'll see you again at some point. I'm not sure if we're meeting next week or not that'll be determined because it's Town meeting. Oh wait, we have one more. Okay, we will see you next week Town meeting is not next week. It's the following week. So thank you all very much