 Good morning, everybody, and thank you for turning in today. I will begin today's press conference by providing our weekly data and modeling update. I will then be followed by Mike Harrington, the commissioner at the Department of Labor, who will be joining us virtually to provide an update on the work search requirement. Following Commissioner Harrington, Deputy Secretary Samuelson will be joining us to update us on Vermont's vaccination progress. And then, of course, Dr. Levine will be providing his weekly health update. And then finally, Governor Scott will then be joining us following his White House call with fellow governors regarding the pandemic. This week's report is again filled with plenty of good news. It shows that Vermont continues to emerge from a very long and cold winter that saw record COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations, and cases. But now our cases are in a steady retreat, and over the last seven days, Vermont has had the second fewest deaths and hospitalizations on a per capita basis in the country. Further, Vermonters continue to step up and get vaccinated, and we have already met our May 1 vaccination goal under the Vermont Forward Plan. This week, Vermont is reporting 504 new COVID-19 cases, 293 fewer than last week, and down 727 cases from an all-time high on April 5. Our 7-day average dropped 34% this week, and the rate is down 61% since April 1. We've also reported under 100 new COVID-19 cases for nine straight days, the first time we have done that in nearly five months. And again, it's important to note that Vermont is seeing these large decreases, even though we continue to lead the country in per capita testing. The dramatic drop in cases that we are experiencing this month was only matched by the similar decrease that occurred last April, when the 7-day case rate decreased 82% that month. However, unlike last April, when we had to close schools, close colleges, and close businesses, we are working our way out of this through a life-saving vaccine that and that we anticipate that trend to continue to finally end the pandemic. But to do so, it's critical for everybody to step up and get vaccinated. Cases are continuing to decrease in every age group, with the younger cases continuing the fall the most, with cases among 10 to 19-year-olds down 70% so far this month, and cases for those 20 to 29 down 60% so far this month. Similarly, COVID-19 cases are remaining relatively low on campuses across the state. This week there were 52 higher education COVID-19 cases, a slight uptick from the 47 that were reported last week, but still down significantly from the four straight weeks of over 100 cases that were reported through March and early April. Cases have also generally improved across the state, with 13 of Vermont's 14 counties seeing their case rates fall, including a 42% drop in the Northeast Kingdom. The only county with an increase was LaMoyle County, but still that was very slight with an increase of only six cases compared to last week. It's certainly encouraging that we see case rates dropping across Vermont, and this is especially encouraging in the Northeast Kingdom, which has generally seen higher case rates over the past few weeks. However, as you can see from this slide, neighboring counties in New Hampshire and Maine are not experiencing that same trend. In fact, neighboring Coas County has the most active cases in the Northeast, and several of the neighboring counties in Maine are close behind. Last November, we saw trends worsen in northern New Hampshire and then spill over into the kingdom. So we do want to provide an extra word of caution for those living and working in the kingdom to protect themselves for them to get tested if they visit these neighboring counties. And then ultimately, and most importantly, to get vaccinated so that we no longer have to worry about these outbreaks that pop up in neighboring states that have the potential of impacting our daily lives. With the recent favorable trends, our updated modeling forecast a very optimistic outlook for the weeks ahead. With cases expected to decrease and with cases expected to even get on a daily basis back down into the single digits in the month of June. However, as always, this will only materialize if we all do our part. We follow the public health guidance and we all step up to get vaccinated and we do that as quickly as we can. Turning to hospitalizations, our rates continue to be stable and they've even shown signs of decreasing as well. With the overall trend decreasing 7% this week and down close to 10% over the past 14 days. Looking at the demographics of our hospitalizations, we can see that those over 70 continue to make up fewer and fewer of those requiring hospitalization. And as a result, the average age of those requiring hospitalization has been on a steady decrease over the past four months. With improving case rates and improving vaccination coverage, we anticipate seeing our hospitalization rates fall more significantly in the very near future. And with fewer vulnerable Vermonters contracting COVID-19 and requiring hospitalization, we're also thankfully seeing our fatality rates continue to stay low and even decreasing. Sadly, 14 Vermonters so far this month have lost their lives to the virus. But thankfully that number is trending down from the past few months. And we're also forecasting that during the month of May, this decrease will continue with as few as five and as many as 15 deaths estimated for the month of May. Taking a look now at the Vermont Forward Plan, we first want to take a step back and see what the progress has been since April 9th when the first step in the plan was enacted. As you can see, that 10 to 14 day period following that first reopening step does not indicate any increased viral transmission. In fact, the case rates were going down and they continued to go down during that 10 to 14 day period and in the days subsequent to it as well. And looking forward in the Vermont Forward Plan, we also see that we have met our May 1st goal of having at least 50 percent of the population vaccinated, standing today under new census data numbers at 51.1 percent. And those numbers continue to increase quite steadily, which is good to see. Looking generally at our vaccination progress, we can see that Vermont is a leader in a number of different categories, ranking second in the country on doses administered. So that's doses first and second, only behind Connecticut. In terms of the population started and the population fully vaccinated, we rank fourth on that metric. In terms of our older Vermonters, our more vulnerable Vermonters, those who have started vaccination, we rank second with an impressive 94.6 percent of Vermonters having started vaccination. And we also rank first in the country in terms of those 65 and older who are now fully vaccinated, standing at 82.8 percent. So these numbers are really good and really strong. However, we do want to continue to encourage people that, if you haven't yet made an appointment to do so. Nationally, the case rate, the vaccination rates have come down a little bit, decreasing about 9 percent over the last week. In Vermont, we saw our vaccination rates decrease a bit as well, not as dramatically, down 3 percent. So you are seeing those rates low. Of course, Johnson & Johnson was just put back online. A lot of opportunities there to get vaccinated, that is certainly impacting the rate. But there is now availability, in the short and medium term, to get vaccinated. So certainly encouraging Vermonters to do that. Finally, taking a look around the region and looking more closely at the Northeast. Aside from those counties that we referenced in Northern New Hampshire, in Western Maine, the case rates and the hospitalizations have seen great improvement across New England and the Northeast, with cases down nearly 28 percent compared to last week, and every state in the region seeing a decrease. It's also the lowest number of cases that we've seen in the region, since early November. Again, all of which is a good sign and a good indication for Vermont as we continue our path forward here over the next few weeks. Now, at this time, I would like to introduce Commissioner Michael Harrington. Thank you, Commissioner Peachett. I want to take a moment this morning to provide Vermonters with an update on some upcoming changes regarding the Unemployment Insurance Program. Unemployment Insurance was created in 1935 with the intention of providing short-term, partial age replacement to individuals who lose employment through no fault of their own, until they're able to find re-employment. As part of that program, eligible claimants are required to look for work each week. However, due to the pandemic, Vermont's work search was suspended in order to ensure the safety of thousands of Vermonters. While the Vermont Forward Plan is in place and moving forward and vaccine distribution continuing at a steady pace, Vermont is moving forward to more normalcy because our health officials feel it is safe to do so. This means more opportunities for Vermonters to return to work or seek new opportunities safely, and we know employers are actively seeking people to fill open jobs. With all of this in mind, the department is announcing today the reinstatement of the work search requirement beginning the week of May 9th. This means individuals still collecting unemployment benefits will be required to conduct a standard work search each week beginning the week of May 9th through the 15th, and claimants will need to report those job contacts to the department the following week when they file their claim in order to remain eligible for unemployment benefits. As with most things related to the pandemic, this is not a simple activity, and one size does not fit all. Because of this, the department will be providing more comprehensive guidance to claimants in both the regular unemployment program and the pandemic unemployment assistance program or PUA over the coming days. With that, here's some basic information. A valid work search consists of three formal job inquiries per week. This includes the submission of an application or a formal request or interview for employment. Because of COVID, business outreach can be done by phone or email, and applications and interviews can be done virtually or by phone. However, claimants must be able to provide proof of outreach upon request by the department. Claimants must report their three job inquiries each week when they file for benefits using the online portal. Claimants who can demonstrate a significant hardship that prevents them from filing online will be provided an alternate means for submitting their work search information. All claimants will be required to set up a JobSeeker profile in Vermont JobLink, which is the state's online job service application. Claimants are obligated to accept offers of suitable work, and refusing an offer of suitable work may result in the loss of benefits. All UI claimants must perform a weekly work search unless they have a COVID qualifying circumstance that exempts them from the work search requirement. Claimants will be required to attest to their work search or to their COVID situation when they file online, and they must be able to provide documentation upon request of their COVID qualifying situation. Individuals in the PUA program who are not self-employed, not independent contractors and not sole proprietors must also perform a weekly work search. Self-employed individuals, independent contractors, or sole proprietors should be prepared to report business engagement efforts and activities should the federal government require it at a future time. Research shows that the longer an individual is removed from the labor force, the harder it is for them to return, and the business community across Vermont continues to report labor shortages across all sectors and industries. So we are hopeful that claimants will be able to find safe and meaningful work relatively easily. Again, our public health experts have worked with employers to minimize risk and ensure individuals can return to the workplace safely. More information on the work search requirement and how it will impact claimants filing weekly claims can be found on the department's website at labor.vermont.gov. We know there are going to be a lot of questions from claimants, so we will be hosting multiple virtual town hall events for those individuals to learn more about the work search requirement, as well as programs the department offers to help Vermonters get back to work. Additionally, the department will be holding a media availability on Wednesday, April 28th, tomorrow from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. More information will be provided in a future media release. I also want to quickly mention fraud, which we know has been a challenge throughout the pandemic, which we have seen a steady increase in over the past few months. To combat this coordinated effort by organized crime, we have implemented a variety of strategies to make it more difficult for fraudsters to file a claim. Because of this, claimants may be asked at different points in the process to validate their identity, and the process for new or first-time claim filers may be extended slightly to account for increased security crosschecks. Remember, if you receive any sort of notice from the department of labor in the mail about unemployment insurance benefits and you yourself did not file, please report this immediately to the department's fraud unit. This can be done online from the department's home page or by leaving a detailed message on our fraud tip line at 802-828-4104. That number again is 802-828-4104. And now I will turn it over to Jenny Samuelson, Deputy Secretary for the Agency of Human Services. Good morning. As you may know, the CDC and the FDA have lifted the pause on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine following a thorough safety review. The two agencies have determined the following. Use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine should resume in the United States. The FDA and the CDC have confidence that this vaccine is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19. The FDA has determined that the available data shows that this vaccine's known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 and older. At this time, the available data suggests that the chance of a very rare blood clot occurring is low, but that the CDC and FDA will remain vigilant in continuing to investigate the risks. Healthcare providers administering the vaccine and vaccine recipients or caregivers should review the available COVID-19 vaccine fact sheets that are on the FDA's website at fda.gov. Based on this information, we are excited to announce that the clinics offering Johnson & Johnson vaccine have resumed across the state, including clinics in Chittenden, Addison, Windham, and Orleans counties. I want to highlight a clinic that is happening today in Barton. This is a drive-thru clinic at the Barton Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. They will be able to accommodate up to 100 drive-up for those individuals who do not have an already scheduled appointment. So bring an eligible friend or family member with you today. There are also clinics with available appointments at the Double Tree in South Burlington, Tomorrow, and Friday at the Middlebury High School. You can sign up at healthvermont.gov.com or you can call 855-722-7878. If you haven't scheduled an appointment or want an earlier appointment, additional clinics have been added this week for all three vaccine types. Available appointments exist on weekdays and throughout the coming weekend. I specifically encourage younger Vermoners, age 16 and older, to make an appointment. As of today, 52% of Vermoners who are 16 or 17 years old and 43% of those between the ages of 18 and 29 have been either vaccinated or registered. As a reminder, if you are unable to make your scheduled appointment, please cancel or reschedule it in the registration system. This will allow other Vermonters the opportunity to get vaccinated. Turning to BIPOC Vermoners, we have been making great progress in this area. As of today, 54% have either been vaccinated or have made an appointment. In terms of our overall progress, Vermont has a lot to be proud of. As Commissioner Pichek mentioned, we are second in the nation for vaccines administered per 100,000 people and first in the nation for those who have completed vaccine and are 65 and older. As of this morning, 324,100 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Of those 100,000 have received their first dose of the vaccine. 224,000 have received their first and last dose. This pandemic has taken a toll on all of us. I can't thank you enough for your dedication, flexibility and resilience as we continue to navigate a very challenging time. We're moving in the right direction. If you haven't done so already, please schedule your vaccine appointment to help us all get back to the sense of normalcy as soon as possible. At this time, I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Levine for a health update. Good morning. We're glad to see the daily case counts continuing to trend lower. They've now been under 100 each day since April 18th and on Monday, there was actually a low of 35. Our positivity rate remains low at 1.1 percent. We're monitoring hospitalizations. Today, they are below 20 at 19 with six in the ICU. I say these all because these are all indicators that we're doing the right things right now, from general prevention to outdoor activities to most importantly, getting vaccinated. But this does not mean that our work is done here. We still need to keep it up. Knowing those variants of the virus is still around us, looking for any opportunity to spread to the next person. We're now at about 60 percent of our monitors with at least a dose of the vaccine and more than 40 percent who've completed vaccination. I continue to be amazed by this progress in just a few short months. I also want to add that some national news reports have raised the issue of people who get their first dose but do not go back for their second. This has not been a major concern in Vermont. According to our data, fewer than 3 percent of those who receive their first dose have not yet gone for their final dose 14 or more days after they were scheduled to. We're working to bring this relatively small number down even further and I thank for monitors for completing vaccination and ensuring they have full protection. And we are pleased to again be able to offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as you just heard with the vaccine having undergone a thorough safety review. As you know, the CDC and FDA had recommended a pause on the use of the vaccine after reports of six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot. During that time, the agencies examined data to assess risk and give information to providers and clinicians so they could manage and recognize these events which require unique treatment. At last report, the federal agencies have confirmed a total of 15 cases of what is known as thrombosis and thrombocytopenia syndrome, TTS, including the original six reported cases. All these cases involve women between ages 18 and 59 with symptom onset between six and 15 days after vaccination. 13 of the cases were in women below age 50 for an estimated seven cases per million doses administered in this age group. What this means is the data do suggest that TTS is still very rare. And while instances of TTS can be serious and we all need to be vigilant, when it comes to this risk, the potential risk from COVID-19 is much, much greater. We know that this one-dose vaccine is especially helpful in bringing protection against the virus to certain populations where access may be more difficult and that it remains an attractive option to people who want the one and done approach. In fact, many Vermonters have already signed up for Johnson & Johnson vaccine clinics since we reopened them, including a new drive-thru option in the Northeast Kingdom that's happening just as we speak, which may also be an appealing format for some. We once again have three safe and effective vaccines to offer and Vermonters can choose a specific clinic when they make an appointment. I don't want to inundate our clinicians with phone calls, but I do encourage anyone with concerns or questions about their health or which vaccine is the right choice for them to contact their health care provider. You deserve to get the answers you need from someone you trust and who knows you well, but I want to emphasize the most important thing is that you get vaccinated no matter which vaccine it is. Remember, our progress in vaccination is a core element of the Vermont Forward Plan, allowing us to carefully get together, travel and visit shops and businesses with fewer restrictions. This plan is carefully tied to population vaccination metrics. The goals we've set are realistic and as you saw achievable, but we still need your help to make this a reality, again by getting vaccinated. And speaking of easing some restrictions, there are some indications that guidance may be forthcoming shortly from the CDC regarding wearing masks outdoors. It's noteworthy that here in Vermont we have not been seeing cases arise from the North Beach celebrations recently. As the governor said last week, our team is actively continuing to look at state data and national recommendations and will of course review any changes. In fact, he may be hearing about this on the White House call right now, so stay tuned. The governor also mentioned on Friday we have now released summer overnight camp guidance. This is available on the Agency of Commerce and Community Development website. It addresses testing at the time of arrival, symptom screening, masking and other mitigation strategies aligned with the Vermont Forward Plan to allow for a successful and fun camp experience. Something every Vermont kid deserves, especially with all they've been through this past year. Finally, it's been a while since I've told a story. I'd like you to hear from a Vermonter who wanted to share her COVID-19 story. When I encourage people to get vaccinated I often talk about the more serious outcomes like hospitalizations and long COVID which can affect even younger people. So never underestimate the power of this virus. Just look at the severe and often young hospitalized cases being seen in Michigan right now. But I also know it's easy that young people may think that will never happen to them. So here's something else that can happen. Either a loss of taste or smell called anosmia or a distortion of smell known as perosmia. As this Vermonter put it, amusing to some at first, benign enough compared to the horror stories of severe illness and death. I was lucky. I have full lung capacity. I can work out. I can participate fully in life. No big deal, right? Except now it's been six months. She goes on to say, in fact, having no sense of smell or taste would be a blessing some days. But instead, food smells and tastes take on another means. Meat tastes like what I perceive rotting flesh tastes like. Fruits and vegetables like compost. And most things like I'm eating the contents of an ashtray. Even my cosmetics and shampoos smell putrid. I cannot smell the fresh Vermont spring air in grass or enjoy that morning cup of coffee. She says this is feeling is socially isolating and lonely and has brought her to tears. And she prays it will come back. Now we all have different things that are important to us. And maybe for you, it's having a meal with family, hanging out with friends at a restaurant or a brewery, or cooking for someone you love. These would not be the same without your taste and smell. I do offer my appreciation to the Vermonter who allowed me to read these comments. And just recall, people weigh risks and consequences in different and often personal ways. So if this could be what motivates someone to get vaccinated, I hope you'll share this story with them. Governors not yet back from the call, so we'll begin the questions and answers. I do have one for Dr. Levine. So Commissioner Pichek mentioned that we're seeing vaccination rates decreased about 3% last week. I guess I'm just wondering if you expect this number to rise and also what barriers we're still seeing to people accessing vaccines. We hear a lot about hesitancy, but I'm just wondering what sort of barriers are you seeing now? Sure. So I'm not sure I'm going to see that number rise necessarily. And I think one of the barriers that we just overcame was there was no Johnson & Johnson. So there are a number of people that I know were just awaiting the return and were very disappointed by the disappearance. So we'll see how that plays into it. In addition, you're going to see larger-scale vaccination still for the near-term future. But as we move past the next couple of weeks, I think you're going to see more events like what are happening in Barton at different types of venues. You're going to see more opportunities for a walk-in. You're going to see more opportunities for people to be vaccinated, kind of bringing the vaccine to them as opposed to asking them to go to the vaccine. So we'll be specifically examining certain populations that we know would probably get vaccinated if it was convenient for them. And if we made the vaccine available in a timely way. We may start looking at other sectors of our worksites and educational sectors as well. And we're hoping very much that the 12- to 15-year-old group will receive authorization for vaccinations sometime mid-May or late-May. And so we're starting to already do some of the planning for gearing up for that, again, making the vaccine easy and accessible to them, working with our colleagues in pediatrics for a lot of the awareness setting and education and answering concerns, as well as participating in that aspect of vaccine. Save number two for the governor. I bet. Well, good morning, everyone. So I just got off the phone with fellow governors Dr. Fauci, CDC director Dr. Walensky, White House officials, and others. And here's what we heard. First of all, Dr. Walensky reinforced confidence in the J&J vaccines, noting the risk of blood clots was extremely rare. About 1.9 in a million chance in the benefits of preventing COVID far outweigh that rare risk. They mentioned that they would be making some announcements today in regards to new guidance for fully vaccinated people, but did not give us any details on what that would look like. They didn't want to get out ahead of the president who is having a press conference, I believe, 12.15. So stay tuned. On the supply front, we heard that our Pfizer and Moderna will remain steady for the next few weeks. So there was no increase or decrease for the Pfizer and Moderna. And the pharmacies will see a slight, slight uptick for Moderna and Pfizer. For Johnson and Johnson, on top of any supply in the system after the pause, we'll see a small distribution next week. About 800 doses each for the state supply and pharmacies. So in total, we'll receive about 1,800 more doses. This week, then last week, and we're told that there is also going to be a significant increase in J&J sometime in the next two to three weeks. And it has to do with authorization for the Baltimore plant to increase their inventory. So next, as you heard from Commissioner Pichek for Moderna's vaccine rollout has been one of the most successful in the nation. Not only were we the first to reach 90 percent of our most vulnerable population, those over the age of 65 with at least one dose, but we also ranked second in the nation for vaccine administration. The only state ahead of us, Connecticut, pivoted to our age banning approach after determining their initial strategy was just too complicated. And because demand continues in Vermont, we've met our May 1st target for the percentage of the adult population vaccinated. We're also averaging our lowest weekly case count since November, which is a good sign that vaccines are working. This, along with our vaccination rate so far, puts us in a strong position to move into step two of the Vermont Forward Plan, which we'll discuss in further detail on Friday. And although cases are at a five month low and hospitalizations are declining, it's still important to do your part and follow the guidance in place. So don't let your guard down because we're still working to vaccinate as many Vermonters as possible. And we still have much more work to do before we get back to normal. Every day, we're getting closer and closer to a time when you don't need to think about mass distancing and crowds with every plan you make or every time you leave home. But this all depends on Vermonters continuing to get vaccinated. So again, there are appointments available all over the state. So please, if you don't have one already, please sign up. Everyone has a role to play to reach the level of vaccination we need in order to get back to normal. So I'm asking everyone to do your part. We've got a lot to be proud of here in Vermont because from the beginning, we've been a national leader during the pandemic. So let's make sure that continues and get as many of your friends and family vaccinated as soon as possible. Next, as we mentioned on Friday, we published our guidance for summer camps, both overnight and day camps, which can be found on our Vermont Forward webpage. This is important for our summer camps and programs as they plan to ramp up opportunities for Vermont's kids to reconnect this summer. The guidance from both for both overnight and day programs follows our Vermont Forward framework. As we continue to see reductions in cases and demand for vaccines, I'm confident our kids will have an enjoyable summer. Finally, on Friday, Dr. Levine and I mentioned that Saturday, last Saturday, was National Drug Take Back Day as we said during last fall's Take Back Day, the state collected about 4,500 pounds in unused medication. This past weekend, it was over 7,000 pounds. So, I want to thank Vermonters for stepping up and remember, you don't have to wait for these special days. You can do this year round and you can learn more about this at healthvermont.gov slash do your part. So, with that, we'll go back to questions. Thanks, Governor. So, as we heard from Commissioner Harrington, the state's going to be implementing the work search requirement in May. You know, I guess, you know, with some schools still hybrid and some still fully remote, I guess, you know, how do we balance the need for, you know, childcare and being able to, you know, have not all schools are still in person? So, parents might not necessarily get back to work. So, I guess I'm just wondering what sort of resources are there and how do we balance that? Yeah, you know, again, this has been my concern all along and that's why we didn't put the work search requirement back into place. But, as we see, more and more schools that are going to in-person instruction, as well as more and more people getting vaccinated, our case counts going down. There's more opportunities for private childcare facilities as well to step up. And we're also, we talk about our summer camp opportunities, we'll be able to provide those opportunities for kids this summer. So, this is the right time. As we've seen, things are getting closer and closer to being back to normal. We're taking a major step on Saturday and we'll take another, hopefully, if the vaccination rates continue, I'll see another major step in June and then hopefully be back to normal by the 4th of July. So, all of this is interconnected and we just thought it was the right time to do so. Thank you. Steve. Well, I guess the first one is the racing season opens up this weekend at two of the three Vermont tracks. Are you planning on going fast or? No, I won't be participating this weekend, but I'm still hoping to take in a few races this summer. Just haven't determined when that will be just too much work to do right now. And I guess with the job search requirement being put back in place, do you see that as possibly helping out the hospitality industry, hospitality, food industries? Yeah, I don't see this as being some magical formula for solving our workforce shortage. As you might remember, we had this problem pre pandemic. So we're going to have this after the pandemic as well. And there are a lot of still a lot of issues with folks going back to work. One of them being, as we mentioned before, childcare. So, but I see this as being a part of the solution. And we do have opportunities in Vermont and we need to get back to normal. And I think this will, again, just assist people in getting out there to see what's available because I think there are a lot of opportunities. But I don't think that this is going to make a dramatic change in some of the workforce shortages we see again. We have, we recognize this over the last decade and it's been increasing. We had the lowest unemployment rate in the country pre pandemic. And this just hasn't gone away. It isn't possibly, especially on the food server side, low wages or anything like that that's bringing this situation. Well, I think, you know, I mean, there's going to be, it's all about supply and demand. And so wages will increase naturally at some of what I've been saying again for the last three or four years when we've had debates about minimum wage increases. I think we're going to see a natural occurrence of increase in wages. It's organic growth. It's just about that basic principle of supply and demand. So we need more people. And I think wages will come up as a result. Thank you. Stuart Ledbetter, NBC5. Good morning. I want to follow up on the work search requirement. A restaurant tour told us yesterday the situation has become catastrophic. That was his word in terms of just not being able that people just aren't applying for work. McDonald's this morning announced it's hiring about 400 people for its restaurants in Vermont this summer. Is there a concern that people won't come back, that people won't return to the workforce? Do you have any thoughts about that? Well, you know, we have a natural attrition because of our demographics. We're getting older. People are retiring and just not participating in the workforce because of the age. So this is again been something I've talked about over the last four or five years. Our demographic challenges, workforce shortages. We need to grow the economy. We need to bring more people into the state. And this problem again existed before the pandemic and over the last year it hasn't gotten any better. So we need to continue to adopt policies that will bring more people in the state as well as make Vermont affordable, affordable enough so that people stay here. So it's all connected and things haven't changed in that respect. What do you attribute to the nearly 20,000 growth in population in yesterday's census numbers? What do you think is driving that? Is that COVID related? Well, I think it's a combination. I think we have, again, we haven't, we've been initiating a lot of different strategies over the last four years to try and bring more people into the state, remote workers. For example, we took a lot of criticism for that, but I think that that was a strategy that that was worthwhile. So we did bring more people into the state as a result of that. One strategy, trying to make Vermont more affordable, keeping taxes from growing and tax and fees from growing, making, again, Vermont more affordable for people to live and stay here. I think that helped. And again, with the pandemic, we've seen whether there's been an increase in real estate sales and being the safest healthy estate in the country has brought, you know, more attention to Vermont and people are trying to balance what their interests are and what attracts them to different locations. And I think, again, Vermont being the safest healthiest state in the nation has its attributes. So it's a combination of a number of different factors. But it's, again, not enough. I mean, we have to put this into context here. I think it was around 2.7 percent increase. Still not the highest in the Northeast by any stretch. And again, we're seeing, we're still lagging behind the rest of the country. They had, I think, across the country. We might have had a 4 percent growth. So we're still lagging. Finally, quickly, I mentioned that the, you would have mentioned had the Canada border come up in this morning's conference call. It did not. It did not. No. I know that, again, this is a part of their negotiations in each country has its concerns for a good reason. So we'll just have to wait and see what they decide. Thank you very much. Wilson Ring, the Associated Press. Hi, good morning, everybody. I have another follow on Stuart Spencer's question. Did those numbers surprise you when they came out yesterday that the state had increased so much or the population had increased so much? And do you think it could have been an increase of 20,000 over estimate, 17,000 over 2010 that that much of a change could have come about so quickly within the last three or four years or has it just been a hidden increase? You know, it did surprise me a bit. I wasn't sure what it would be. I'm pleasantly surprised. And but I don't know when that happened and whether we were just expecting worse. And then having upwards to 20,000 people increase in population here in the state was something that again we need, but it's still again 2.7 percent just isn't enough. We need to increase that in order to work our way through the workforce challenges that we have here and to make Vermont more affordable and grow this economy. OK, thank you. I have a question about vaccine and recording the vaccine. Does the state or I don't know the health department or whoever, they record the vaccines that people are getting and do they also get the data from the pharmacies that are giving them so that at some point if someone loses their card they could find out what they were given and ultimately they could use those. It seems the world is trending towards some sort of vaccine passport and they could use those state records as a way to prove what they got as opposed to just having them the card. The short answer is yes. But if you want more detail I'll let Dr. Levine answer that. Yeah, there is an immunization registry. So all doses that are administered in the state whether it's by the pharmacy or whether it's by one of our own clinics that we run end up being recorded in the registry. Sometimes there's a lag period for some of the pharmacies to get that information there but they've been much better at getting that there in a timely way. There are some rules and regulations regarding how that registry can be used in terms of the data. So I wouldn't want to promise we would be using the registry as a quick go-to place for verifying if somebody had a vaccine or not because that would not be what it's intended uses for and it would probably go against the regulation. However, the issue of passports in general as you know is one that is only at the debate stage nationwide and even internationally. So we'll have to see how that plays out. I would just ask all Vermonters to hold on to that card that they do have at the time they get vaccinated because that's very important and I know a lot of people are taking pictures of that as well and putting it on their smartphones which is a great idea. Okay and do people now have are people who get to receive the vaccines are they able to check their registration on your website? No, that's not something they can they can't access the immunization registry to look at their own data on there. No. Okay is that coming? I don't think we've had that discussion. Okay, okay great. Thank you. Those are my questions. Bob Kett, St. Alden's messenger. Yes, we have a company up here in Franklin County and worried they have a number of jobs to fill and worried as you know if they don't fill those jobs in time they would consider leaving their footprint up there and I'm wondering you know leading up to this decision were there any other companies in the state that expressed this concern and did that play a role? This has been a concern of many different entities over the last few weeks and I'm not it didn't play a role in our decision in a lot of respects we've been waiting for the right time as well you know the vaccination rates made a difference as well as trying to to have schools go into more in-person learning and all that coupled together with our case rates decreasing led us to believe this was the right time to re-institute the work search requirement but this isn't you know this isn't something magical it's automatically going to have people return to work we still they still need to have some of those necessities like child care for instance and and you know to be perfectly blunt there are some who are perfectly content staying on the unemployment assistance because of the $300 stipend and following on that looking at the labor shortage I kind of want to dive a little bit deeper into that what it specifically looks like is that the jobs that need to be filled are they primarily in-person are they a certain sector or other and has sort of the migration toward or the more use of remote positions having a sort of impact on these as well again you know pre-pandemic I can go back just two years ago and point to the fact that we had we had the lowest unemployment rate in the country 2.2% as I remember we had more jobs available than we had people to fill them at that point in time two years ago so this problem hasn't fixed itself and I want to stress that that we still need to put measures in place we need to focus on the future in order to work our way out of the position we find ourselves in we didn't get into this overnight we're not getting out of it overnight either but that's why it's so important that we take for instance the federal aid that we receive is 2.7 billion dollars a billion of that is flexible the 1.7 billion goes direct to programs and so forth to help people it's 1.1 billion dollars it's a little more flexible that's what I presented to the legislature to invest in things we need for the future that we haven't been able to afford like having 250 million dollars for housing that's important if we want to bring more people and affordable housing is going to be important if we want to have broadband which has precluded some people from from coming and living in Vermont there's another 250 million that we presented to the legislature climate change mitigation is something that is of interest to many and is part of our future to make sure that we're safe and we're paying attention we're doing our part to prevent some of the catastrophic events in the future there's 200 million there and water sewer and storm water are all critical pieces of the infrastructure that we need in order to bring more people into the state that coupled with about a 170 million for economic development if we were to take that money this one time money it's not it's not ongoing just one time money to invest in something monumental for the future we could change the trajectory of Vermont but if we squander this opportunity if we waste this opportunity and then we look back in five or 10 years and wonder what we did with our billion dollars it will be it will just be regrettable in so many with different ways so that's why I'm stressing that if we want to do things different in Vermont we want a different trajectory a different path forward then we better invest in with the money we have wisely all right thank you good after some guess I'm going to pick up where Cameron left off there as you know we've asked you several times about the unemployment issues and in Vermont and particularly in Franklin County and I can assume that Cameron was talking about KTEC in in richford who told us last week that they they may be facing irreparable damage because the work search has gone on the work search requirement has has not been there for so long I'm wondering what your plan is long-term help businesses that have that have faced long-term damage by this policy to not require workers at least I think you're you're leading us Greg you're just leading us in the wrong direction here I mean you're just assuming that the reason that we have a workforce shortage is because we didn't have the the requirement the work search requirement which I I just I just don't agree with I just don't believe that's the case we could have put the work search requirement in place from the beginning and we'd be in the same situation today that we find ourselves in I mean child care is a big deal to some I think you're probably some of the employees from that organization need child care as well and I think that is you know some of the circumstances involving unemployment at this point in time made it lucrative for some people to stay on the on the work unemployment system so I I just disagree with the premise that the work search requirement is going to be the magic bullet that will solve this problem because again I can't stress enough we had this problem before and if and I'm sure you were reporting on this a year or two ago when we had more jobs than we had people to fill them and this is the the same situation we find ourselves in today only we have about 30,000 people on UI right now and waiting awaiting our way through this pandemic has led us to some people just can't get back to work they have kids they have to take care of and they have no they have been able to put them they're not in school because of remote learning so it's all coupled together and put us in an extremely a vulnerable position but in terms of helping some of those those entities we have in part of my and I'm sure you've reported this as well the five buckets in the ARPA proposal that I put forward to the legislature 170 million of that is for economic relief and for those who haven't been able to to take advantage of some of the PPP money and grants and loans from previous CARES Act dollars but we have more dollars that we need to help some of these businesses survive so we'll continue to do that but the answer after all is said and done is a continuing to try to make Vermont more affordable trying to attract more people here that's why I ask for in a lot of respects not only from common decency a standpoint but from an economic standpoint asking the federal government to increase our refugee program a tripling our refugee program so there are a number strategies that we need to implement in order to bring more people in the state to the state because we don't we simply because of our demographics we simply don't have enough people right now to satisfy some of the workforce requirements that we have so so again we'll be there I mean it's a lot of it's dependent on the legislature in terms of what they do with some of the proposal that we put forth to invest the billion dollars for the future but stay tuned on that but you've been governor now for you're in your fifth year so I'm wondering how you're going to work with the legislature to ensure that this actually happens it's easy to to post flame and say hey you know the legislature isn't making these these rules and and policies to get to my desk but you're in your fifth year as governor I'm wondering what's your plan to make sure that it actually happens this year next year same same strategy we've been using for the last four years I think we've been successful in a lot of regards Greg so I don't know what what you would say I should do I vetoed budget bills I've worked with them in a different number of different ways we've gotten some things accomplished a lot of things have fallen by the wayside but but in this situation I think we're at a pivotal time billion dollars is just falling from the sky in some respects it's here right in front of us we can invest it wisely we can't use it to fill budget gaps we can't use it to prop up different programs we have to invest it in areas that will give us the the best return on investment that we could possibly have so we'll continue to make the case for why this is important time and why we need to help continue to help businesses as you've seen over the last year we have consistently gone into the legislature asking for relief for businesses so that we can have the jobs available when we're out of the the pandemic I just don't know where you would think that we haven't been doing that okay and uh last week governor I I understand that there's been a policy change in BSP not to release the names of any minors regardless of their involvement either in a crime or in their involvement in an incident which which regards the crime I believe this came up over the weekend with a fatality in the southern part of the state in for decades minors have shared the roadways with the rest of society with the understanding that they'd be held to the same standard and and now it it appears that we're making kind of a two tiered program here and I'm wondering if your intention that those who get behind the wheel if they're under 18 are not held to the same standard as as an adult yeah I don't I don't think this just happened over the weekend as you might remember we uh he had this challenge over the last year or so based on another incident it forced us to reflect on that and look at the statue the law says that we can't we don't believe we can we want to provide more transparency but we're going to have to have some help from the legislature I know you don't want to hear that Greg but I'm going to need some help from the legislature in order to change the law in in the meantime we have to follow the law so so would you resist additional laws to expand the the clouding of names when it comes to minors is that my understanding yeah we were I was fine with what we were doing before but then we found that we were counter to statue so we had to follow the law so I'm fine with going back to what we had before but we're going to need some help from the legislature in order to do that okay thank you after and hopefully somebody else can pick up where I left off have a good day I don't know what more I can say on that great Michael Vermont Digger and Wallace Allen seven days hi um I have another question about reinstating the work search requirement and that is how is this going to work for people on PUA commissioner Harrington you mentioned that and I'm just wondering if you can just lay out some of the basics for people who are I'm sure they will tune in later to get the details but um how can they prove that they're looking for work if they are self-employed and uh and those other areas that you guys haven't really worked with until the the pandemic thanks and I I would just clarify my comments specifically indicated that if someone is self-employed an independent contractor or sole proprietor that they do not have to look for work so there are individuals who did qualify for PUA because they did not qualify under the standard provisions of regular unemployment and those are the individuals who are not established as a self-employed individual or an independent contractor that will need to look for work however I I don't think it's far fetched to assume that the federal government at some point may require individuals who are independent contractors sole proprietors and self-employed to be engaged in business recruitment efforts so if they are if they do fall into one of those buckets are they out there looking to either reopen their business or secure additional you know jobs or or other forms of of income so I we also put that in there at the caveat just as kind of a forewarning that there may be a time when the federal government does require those individuals to to prove that they are out there and actively looking to to open back up but right now this applies to individuals who are not self-employed and not independent contractors so can you estimate how many people this applies to then in this state I think you guys have about 30,000 people collecting unemployment is that right I can't give you an estimate just because I haven't pulled the numbers from the system but there are roughly somewhere between 20 and 22,000 individuals that are collecting some form of regular unemployment insurance and roughly 10,000 individuals collecting under the PUA program I just in the PUA program I don't have the breakdown of who's an independent contractor self-employed versus you know that whether they fall under a different designation so that so it sounds like between 20 and 22,000 people will start will need to start showing that they are looking for work in making contact with prospective employers not necessarily also in my comments indicated that if they have a COVID qualifying circumstance so again the legislature back at the early part of the pandemic past expanded eligibility for unemployment COVID qualifying reasons if you will and if an individual still meets one of those COVID qualifying reasons for not returning to work then they would not be required to conduct a work search so again there will be a a portion of that population who may may fall into one of those eligibility criterias but again that that remains to be seen at this point because we haven't necessarily asked the specific question as it pertains to the work search those COVID qualifying mean they have somebody at home who needs to be taken care of yeah there's um there's a couple of them and and I should also just remind folks we will have a media availability tomorrow afternoon so we can answer more immediate questions or it will detail questions but for instance if someone is needing to remain home to care for a loved one who is suffering from COVID 19 or or a subsequent issue related to COVID 19 or is quarantining because they have a significant health condition that prevents them from from returning to normal life if they are caring for a child who has either lost their child care or is doing remote learning or if the individual themselves has been instructed by a specialist or a healthcare provider to either quarantine because they were exposed to COVID 19 they contracted COVID 19 or if they have a health condition that prevents them from returning to the work site at this time although you know I think again there will be more detailed conversations around what what long-term looks like in those cases and and I expect more more guidance from the federal government as well thanks so much thank you Donna Hugh the islander thanks very much and governor I guess I'll take up Greg's indication to follow up on his last question kind of ironic because I was going to ask you last Friday about an update on the gag order that Public Safety Commissioner Shirley implemented it was last September where a wrong way team driver killed two people and head on crashes are a lot but over the weekend there Vermont had another case of another 16-year-old driver reportedly killing her classmate and the team driver was driving drunk to police say so now Commissioner Shirley has further stressed his gag order to mandate the state police hide the name even of young people killed in car crashes not just the drivers but people who are killed in crashes so even though the obituary is going to be in the state for probably tomorrow and the test certificate to public and the school principal is talking about the victim and the friends have painted the name on the road at the crash site the state police are being directed you know that they can't give out the name of person whose name is actually going to be in the accident report that gag order by the way was filled is being brief and that were seven months in and counting so I'm just wondering the Vermont Attorney General cited with transparency at the time your own legal counsel testified in the legislature that the public had a right to know the truth yet Commissioner Shirley seems to be at odds with your transparency stance that you had as a senator you've done a governor a governor I'm just wondering at what point does it everybody get on the same page here and are we going to have transparency in Vermont? yeah Mike as you as you are well aware the reason our general counsel was in testifying with the legislature about our position was because we need a we feel we need a change in the statute to allow us to continue to do what we were doing for so until that happens we feel as though we have to follow the law and from our standpoint this means not giving out that information we do I would rather go back to where we were before this situation arose and go back to that transparency but and I thought we were on our way to doing so but but I'm not sure what the legislature is doing at this point whether they're going to move forward with this or not it may be a better question for them actually well they've got a bill and I mean they're moving to and it was little input from law enforcement on this whole thing from what we were told that they're now looking at allowing people up to I think at age 22 to you know be able to go to juvenile court or be a useful offender up to age 22 and if they what Greg was getting at about shouldn't everybody have the same consequences I guess on on the highway but I mean should should teenagers you know face charges of driving while intoxicated with death resulting or careless and negligent driving with death resulting in adult court instead of putting them in a juvenile court where you know we've discussed this in the past that there are no real consequences there's no juvenile jail anymore the best they can do is tell you to get some counseling probably and maybe do community service or something like that but I mean should the so-called big 12 crimes that BWI with death resulting be included in that again we testified on this our general counsel testified on this and we thought we were coming to a place where we could all agree I think you would even said that you could I don't know if it was reluctantly or not but agreed to the position we were heading towards and then it stalled for whatever reason I'm just not sure but but I thought we were getting to to a point where we could come to some resolution yeah and I think the House Committee government opts is considering this for the final time this afternoon so we'll we'll see if this fatal crash causes them to put the brakes on a little bit yeah well we hope we hope so we'd like to come to some resolution as well would you consider detailing it if you think it was too wide open possibly I mean I would take that into consideration I don't know what the final bill is going to cover but I have you know I have some concerns about a number of pieces of legislation moving through the legislature this point in time so I would not rule out veto on on a number of issues thank you very much appreciate your time yeah cap WCAX hi so I'm seeing in the New York Times just moments ago the CDC updated its guidance on masks for vaccinated people outdoors so when they're exercising alone or with family members or when they attend small gatherings the CDC says they don't need to wear them anymore however the CDC did stop sort of stopping masking outside all together obviously this just came in but Dr. Levine do you have any initial thoughts on hearing that and how it compares to Vermont's guidance? well again we've been talking about this for a while cat and the last couple of weeks and then we heard that the CDC was going to come out with their own guidance and we wanted to wait and see what they came up with before we move forward so we will reflect on that take that into consideration as we develop our own policy for in the next week or so so I'll let Dr. Levine answer the rest of that yeah thanks cat basically I think the CDC is practicing what I'm terming pragmatic public health trying to make sure that what they tell citizens is important is truly important in science and data driven so that people won't sort of look at something and go well that's ridiculous and not pay attention to the things you really want them to pay attention to so I think they've begun to recognize that perhaps there's an opportunity in the outdoor setting to not wear a mask and not expect you're going to transmit virus there's some very new reviews out on this and the scientific literature and I mean very new so we have to analyze that ourselves here as well as well as some older data going way back to Wuhan China from the very beginning that would support such a stance though I have to say there's lot of literature that's not adequate to support it either just for for monitors to understand what we're going to be thinking about there's basically three things you need to consider number one is the person indoors where the risk is admittedly very high or outdoors and especially high if you're indoors in a crowded setting number two is there an opportunity to separate people and not be on top of each other so the physically distancing aspect and then number three what will a mask do and in those settings and really most of us are agreeing now that two out of three of those have to be in favor of the non-spread of virus before you would begin to say don't wear a mask so what the CDC is saying today is if you're outdoors and you're not on top of each other but you're able to distance perhaps a mask would not be advisable not or not be necessary and as the governor was saying I think we've kind of been saying that since the beginning even in the outdoor setting we've not told people to take away their masks but we've always said that you know there are times in the outdoor setting that you can take your mask off because you're very distant from anybody and you're out doing something on your own alone in the woods you're on a bike path or what have you so again just those three criteria and trying to put them all together in a way that makes sense well I got you here that was another New York Times article recently that talked about how some people who are immunocompromised might not be as protected by the COVID vaccine as we would like them to be so what's the guidance for Vermonters about that both for those who are immunocompromised themselves but also for those who have friends or loved ones who are should they be taking extra precautions despite being fully vaccinated and if though when might they be able to say okay I think it's about safe to not take those yeah so these are really good questions and important for that subset of the population you just described because one never knows depending on what kind of immune compromising condition one has or what medications you're taking that could hinder your immune system's ability to mount a full response to a vaccine so you never know exactly how much immunity that group of people is going to have though nobody would say they shouldn't get vaccinated everyone agrees they should get vaccinated even in some of the current guidance from from us as well as from CDC we talk about the vaccinated person still being aware of who is in their surroundings so that yes one vaccinated family and another the vaccinated family may feel comfortable sitting around a table without mass and eating their dinner together but if one of the members of that vaccinated family is actually an immunocompromised person you're supposed to factor that in in your decision making and certainly now even though we've provided you with very optimistic information about the path of the virus in Vermont now and how good a job everyone is doing in Vermont the reality is there's still plenty of virus around and people need to be cognizant of the person there with and if that person does have an immune issue then we should be respectfully masking in the presence of that person even if we think we have very low likelihood of transmitting virus because we're vaccinated and that's kind of thought process is going to have to continue for a number more months so that's my answer to your question great thank you very much Devin Bates local 22 local 44 yeah question for Governor Scott you had mentioned at Friday's briefing that you told the second gentleman Vermont needs more vaccine and I'm seeing now experts are concerned that the U.S. will start to run out of people willing to be vaccinated within a matter of weeks and you spoke in you know to the sense that that's not the case in Vermont but as the incentive maybe starts to go away as things reopen anyway is there concern that you know we're working with a short timeline here to get a greater supply could it be something that's too little too late if that doesn't arrive soon well again that is exactly why we want to make sure that we're getting the supply to vaccinate those who who want it and that we continue to provide for that to happen so we have to do our part we have to make sure that we get the supply in federal government has to make sure that we get a supply and not reduce anything from the state and thus far it appears we've been successful I had some conversations with the some of the pharmacies last week one-on-one conversations and they agreed to work with us in order to use up some of their allotment to provide for more pop-up clinics and so forth and working together in any way we can so I think we're in fairly good shape here in Vermont at this point but but yes I mean we've seen other states around the country that have have just turned down their supply they don't need it this week because they have so much an inventory but that's not the case here in Vermont and we still have one category to go those who are college students that aren't intending to stay here this summer we'd like to get at least one one of the doses into them if not the the Johnson-Johnson but the the two dose at least one out of the two and to those second homeowners coming back to Vermont after wintering somewhere else we'd like to provide for their needs as well so that'll happen I think on Thursday and we'll continue to do our part and asking you all to do your part as well in trying to to get more people to get their vaccinations because that's part of our strategy and it's part of our path back to normal All right thank you and then a question for Dr. Levine you had mentioned at the top of the briefing that there were 3% of Vermonters who hadn't gone back for their second dose and you mentioned that's a lot lower than what we're seeing nationally but what can be done in that situation you had mentioned that there's some work to try to maybe get those people back in what does that process look like and you know why do you think this is happening I guess does the Department of Health have any idea why someone you know would go through the process of getting their first dose and then suddenly kind of drop off the map like that yeah I'm not aware that we have a whole list of reasons behind that some of them may have to do with forgetfulness or just inconvenience and that one we can easily remedy and will be another reason could be illness in a person in between the two doses so them waiting longer period of time before they get their second dose on rare occasions I suppose the person might not be alive but that should be a very small percentage of these 3% but again the 3% is a very small number here I I do know from reading national news this is not Vermont news but Vermont is probably would fall in line with this there are some who got side effects after their first shot and would be reluctant to come back for a second shot we have to be aware of that but there are strategies that can work with that population as well and so again once we have an awareness I think we can pretty much respond to whatever the concern is that's my short list of kinds of reasons that I can come up with we haven't spent a tremendous amount of time on you know the second effort part yet because our major effort is getting as many Vermont is vaccinated as possible knowing that even these 3% are protected to some degree so we have to keep that in mind but certainly we want to hear from them and we can work with them thank you please evaluate your order Hi governor I have two questions for you today first if you lose your COVID vaccination card what's the process involved in replacing it asking for a friend I think I believe you can call the Department of Health and they could assist in that way but I'll let Dr. Ravine answer I mean we'll still have a record that you got vaccinated and you'll be in our system so we can we can attend to that need all right thanks and my second question is about your new summer camp guidance which says that campers don't actually need to wear masks while they're eating and sleeping and so I'm wondering how can camps approach these exceptions to mask wearing safely that's Levine so some of the strategies for instance with sleeping are distance and head to toe so that not everybody is lined up in the same direction keep in mind that at the arrival at the camp people are getting tested and so they know their status at that point in time I know there's opportunities to leave camps so to speak and go on field trips or whatever but I do believe most of the camps are not going to be having people traveling outside of the camp setting so obviously that will help in terms of not making sure that any virus is present and then we'll be in a different place at that time as well so as you saw on the modeling projections which you could model yourself seeing the trend that we're going in we're ending up at a point in time in the summertime when we hope there should be markedly less virus than now less transmissibility between people occurring especially if the vaccination progress that every Vermont has been making has held up during that time during eating that's a different story you want one thing the schools use is everybody facing in the same direction some camps would be able to do that but another thing that I think could happen very commonly in camp is not eating indoors or if you're eating indoors eating in a very large room that has a lot of air circulating and is essentially contiguous with the outdoors so there won't be that big a difference so they're going to be a lot of strategies that can be utilized in that for that concern okay thank you and just as a follow-up about those modeling projections when do you expect that masking and social distancing guidelines will disappear like will we still be masked in public after July 4th? okay so when you look closely at the Vermont Forward Plan which I urge everyone to during the next two months May and June we have what's called universal guidance which includes the masking as it is being done currently beginning with the July 4th it now turns to as a recommended strategy as opposed to a required strategy and what that means is just what it means but we still think that that will be a very important factor obviously we look at data every week and every month and as we progress through these next several months and get towards the summer we will obviously be updating our guidance and our recommendations to people but the Vermont Forward Plan already incorporates a transition from the requirement to the recommendation all right thank you so much it's a good opportunity as well with your vaccination cards to remind everyone once you get vaccinated you get your card take a photo of it and keep it there on your phone or take a copy and put it someplace safe Andrew McGregor Caledonian Record yes thank you good afternoon Governor a lot of discussion on workforce shortage issues so far today I'm wondering if you think supporting the state college system fits into that picture as a means of mitigating the state's brain drain and attracting young people from out of the state to hopefully come here and learn and then work yeah there's no one strategy it's all the above and certainly the colleges 90 percent of those in the state college system are from Vermont so that's a way to keep hopefully and keep our some of our youth here I know that UVM and other Norwich and Middlebury and so forth have all led to people making Vermont their homes afterwards so I think higher ed in general is a is a good tool to use because once they come here get acclimated to Vermont find ways to appreciate Vermont and then find opportunity and that's the key you know when when we ask people it wasn't lost on us you know over the last four or five years as to a tremendous resource we had with our college system universities and so forth that we had I think it was 10,000 kids graduating every single year throughout the whole system and we just needed to find a way to keep some of them here and when we asked them first of all it was opportunity you know a good paying career a good job something that would keep them here but as well a decent affordable housing and that was key that was almost on everyone's list was finding that decent affordable housing and that's why you know we did the bond early on two or three years ago 37 million dollar bond leveraged about 65 million in private assets made it the single largest investment in housing Vermont has ever seen and now today again as I remarked earlier my hope is that we would take a portion of this one time money that we're receiving for recovery from the federal government and take 250 million that's two and a half times what what we said was the the largest investment housing we'd ever seen two years ago investment in housing both for those with very low incomes as well as those in the in the workforce and to free up some of the other housing stock as well so we have a lot of initiatives that we'd like to put forward we've been putting forward some moves in our budget in January but with this new new found money it will give us an opportunity to to keep more people here attract more people as well but this the college system higher education is key I think from all standpoints a a piece of the puzzle just your plan on that one time money direct any of it towards the colleges no I don't we did not because we have a as well just to remind everyone we had a back in January we had a $200 million surplus and so there was one time money there and we had provided for the colleges within that bucket of money as well it's grown since then since January we now find ourselves with about a another 100 million so now we have 300 million of surplus one time money so that we think there's enough money there to invest in the state college system with the one time money out of the general fund not out of this once in a lifetime opportunity with this one time money from from congress okay thank you very much John Dillon BPR thank you I had a question I think for Mike Harrington and then for Dr Michael Harrington and then for Dr. Levine we've heard a lot about the workers shortage and I know that global foundry up in Chittenden County is desperate for to expand its work force and has offered a science on it is there an estimate of how many jobs are available there's 30,000 people on unemployment but what about the number of jobs out there and I know the state works to match the two but are we increasing those efforts? thank you governor just wanted to offer you an opportunity to comment first if you wanted to yeah no I mean we we've talked about this a lot we had we had more jobs than we had people you know pre-pandemic so I I expect it's the same now but I don't know how many jobs are available at this point to maybe Mike you have the data to support that if you don't we can certainly get that together because I think it's important to understand what what the need is thank you governor so we don't have a clear method for obviously capturing all the available jobs that are in the market right now we have different methods whether it be through the state's job board system and they're typically around 6,000 jobs posted on the state's job board system we also know that that doesn't capture everything that's out there either that is posted through other online mechanisms or in newspapers or simply word of mouth so we we recognize that's only a fraction I think you know I will say that in one of our proposals to in our recovery plan that went to the legislature did was seeking funding for doing a market analysis and an employer job needs assessment however that that funding did not make it through review by the legislature and was taken out of the budget so you know it it is not like there is one method out there one stop where you can grab this data because there are so many different ways for people to post information but we would encourage employers who are looking for work to engage with our workers to engage with our workforce development team and get their positions posted in our the Vermont job link so that we can have a good understanding of what the landscape looks like John if I could add as well I mean just talking with some of my friends who are still in business they are have the jobs available waiting for their employees to come back so it's not as though they're seeking out seeking or putting ads out for those positions they they are just waiting for the employees to return to work and for Dr. Levine the study I think the Pfizer biotech vaccine is being studied now for people 13 to 15 years of age assuming that's approved would you consider is the COVID shot to be mandatory or would the state consider it to be mandatory for high school students in the fall colleges are doing it now so just to correct you it's age 12 to 15 okay but that's okay so it's mostly middle school and it would probably become active late in May at the earliest but there have been no discussions regarding mandating this vaccine at this point in time um hasn't hasn't been an issue that we've discussed because you think it wouldn't be needed that people would sign up or because you don't want to make another mandate or no I do think I do think that there's I do think that there's a possibility that there will be a large number that will sign up for sure especially with the assistance of our pediatric community who are very committed to their patients and informing them about all of the benefits of getting vaccine so no mandating has not come up at any point in this discussion you know from the moment we started with offering vaccine to long-term care facility residents and to health care workers on through so that's just not been part of our discussion and I think our results are actually superb at this point in time you've seen the data that we presented each each step of the way so that I think without mandating we're making a lot of progress and we shouldn't start thinking about those kinds of concepts and at at a time when we're leading the country in success and there are states that actually are far less successful that have not done so either I don't know if the governor thank you wants to say thank you through Powell WCAX my first question is for commissioner Harrington we received a tip that there are some technical difficulties going on on the department of labor websites that claimants are unable to open a new benefit here are you all experiencing any issues right now I'm happy to take that back and ask the team that's not my experience and I haven't been notified of that as of yesterday so happy to review back there are processes in place that prevent someone from opening a new benefit year prior to the benefit year that they're in expiring so even if they try to go in a day or even a few hours ahead of time before the benefit year has expired it won't let them file a new benefit year there are also other provisions in place too so again I I would want to do some digging to find out whether it truly is a technical issue or just the the way someone is filing but I'm happy to bring that back to the team and and make sure there's no issue that's preventing people from filing okay thank you and Governor Scott as I'm sure you've seen and Coffee Cup victory has closed permanently any thoughts on that's from on brand shutting down yeah very unfortunate I knew that there was some financial issues over the last year or so but but it took me by surprise that they shut down so quickly yesterday so again it's a a bit of an iconic brand for us here in Vermont hopeful that maybe someone else could make a a viable concern out of it we'll see what happens but but in the meantime we want to make sure that we're protecting all the employees as we've heard a lot that there are many different job openings throughout the state so we'll do our best to connect them those employees with some viable alternatives thank you for a long period of time you know especially to you know do child care need will be disadvantaged in returning to work and the department has imposed implementing a dependency benefit being discussed in the legislature are you targeting any programs at that population to help them out with this uh job search and we missed the very beginning of the question if you would mind starting at the top yeah um you know talking about uh you know mothers and and parents who have been out of the workforce for a really long time to care for kids they're going to be kind of disadvantaged when they go back to work so I kind of like to know how the state plans to help them maybe you could just to describe disadvantage in what way Erin oh you know in finding in finding a position because as Terry's and said people who have been out of the workforce for a long time may have a tougher time finding a job we will assist them in any way we can but maybe commissioner Harrington would have some further thoughts on that sure thank you governor there were a couple different comments that that I just want to make sure I hit on so obviously there are a number of different opportunities just the the fact of having someone looking for work and seeking job opportunities is the first step however you know we do have a workforce development division prior to COVID-19 it was our largest division and and has a number of different programs for pretty much any population in terms of either upskilling providing additional training opportunities whether it's on the job training apprenticeships and so on or even just working with them to help link individuals with businesses and find open position so you know from that perspective there are are plenty of opportunities out there for individuals to find additional support services you did make a comment about the dependency benefit and I just want to clarify just real quickly on that that the department's position while it has been against the dependency benefit it has clearly stated that it's not the dependency benefit that we are necessarily against it's the fact that we currently don't have the system in place the capacity or the mechanisms in place to create a brand new benefit and administer it and think we would do it successfully and in complete compliance with what would need to be in place mainly because of our staffing limitations but but more significantly our system limitations so we have justified and and said we are happy to have that conversation at a later date the best time would be maybe at a point once we've modernized our system and can look at changes to a variety of different provisions in the system but again the the specificity there is more around our ability to actually implement a new benefit and effectively administer a new benefit but to your point I think every there are there are large groupings of populations that have now been receiving benefits for for more than a year going on 13 and in some cases maybe longer months because some individuals were actually unemployed prior to COVID-19 and and those are the populations we are most concerned about and we we will have added outreach to them as well as case management opportunities to help get them back engaged in the workforce and I expect that the the president's jobs plan will also have additional provisions in it and funding related to workforce development and re-employment efforts as well you know for for the families who are stand to kind of benefit from the dependency addition I imagine a lot of them are saying like why is this computer system standing in the way of my receiving money and why can't you guys just update the system it's it's about a $50 million question Aaron I think that's part of the problem okay and it's just the yeah it needs to be completely replaced right it's not just an addition to the to the main frame it's just a complete replacement of the main frame and that's been standing in the way for a number of years we've we've advocated for that and in better times you know I don't think the legislature saw the need and investing a lot of money in it because there were only a few were a few thousand people on unemployment but as we've seen when you have 30,000 and 90,000 becomes that much more important so we we still believe that the federal government will get involved at some point and and help us out in this way and if not we're we have to find the resources to upgrade this system it's 50 years old okay thank you Tim Quiston for my business magazine Hi Governor I you know the president and has been received a lot of pressure on releasing some vaccine for other countries India and Brazil and I'm suspecting that the state has a lot of PPE surplus that now have you talked at all about releasing that maybe sending it to other places that need it you know interesting you brought that up because I was thinking about that this morning and I was going to connect with our folks over in public safety about that very issue if we have some PPE that that we're willing to distribute that we should offer that in some way to help out some of the other countries so it's timely and something that is on my mind all right great look forward to hearing more on that as far as the coffee cup bakery Vermont bread issue with Commission Harrington are you going to have any job fairs or anything for in Burlington Brattleboro anything like that is that anything planned yet Commissioner Harrington or Secretary Curley yeah I wonder Commissioner Harrington can get pulled away this is Secretary Curley the Department of Labor does generally work to do what they call a rapid response and will host and at this point it's probably virtual but job fairs to the extent they can I also know we've already connected with other employers around the state who have a great deal of opening to have expressed interest in talking with these employees so that is a great sign of hope as well as their regional development corporations around the state who are all getting together today to try to find a potential buyer for for the company so that you know we can keep coffee cups in Vermont and and operating so we have a few things that are going on we all learned of this just recently it was very abrupt but but we saw hands on deck and if I could just and I I sorry Michael Harrington I couldn't get to my unmute button fast enough but we are our workforce development team is reaching out to the company through a direct point of contact and we'll be providing you know whether it's dedicated job fairs but also outreach for impacted employees in the form of helping them get on unemployment if that's their need or obviously providing additional re-employment services so we should be making I believe we're making contact with the company today if we haven't already all right great thanks got me all surprised too all right thank you very much Tom Davis Compass Vermont no questions today thank you thank you Tom Ed Barber Newport Daily Express questions Governor this is a clarification funding for Vermont State College system was there any funds that were also set aside for Community College of Vermont what was for targeted to Northern Vermont University and Catholic it was for the whole system Ed it was a I believe the ask was around 70 million but they've received some money from the federal government directly so that's been reduced as I remember so I don't know what the what the total is at this point but it's throughout the state college system so that would include Community College okay and the other question I have so a little different and that is so researchers at MIT announced a study that they did recently it said that social distancing indoors is not going to help for that respect will not increase the spread of the disease it doesn't matter whether you're six feet apart or sixty feet apart as long as you have a MastCon and could dilation and if I find and I don't really count changes in terms of opening the economy you'll be even more I'll let Dr. Levine answer that I'll say thanks Ed but I really I really want to say I was secretly praying nobody would bring that study up and I have respect for the researchers respect for the study and the fact it was published it's all very important but keep in mind this is now one recent study that we layer alongside a whole bunch of other studies from the whole pandemic and before the reality is this was a modeling study mathematical modeling and it was not something done in a laboratory with real human beings and there are many many studies throughout the pandemic that either rely on mathematical modeling rely on physical chemistry and physics and are done in a very elegant and sophisticated way looking at particle sizes looking at particle velocities looking at distances all of the things that you'd want to be looked at and some come up with different conclusions than others but I have to be very emphatic about this because I come from the world of biomedical research even when we see studies that we think are really making a very strong point it's very hard to apply them to the human population unless you have a research study that is then done with human beings to either prove the point or not so we should again put this in our catalog of studies that have been done this one would make it seem like we wasted our time for the last 14 months wearing masks at all there's abundant of luminous data that says that's not true we actually did a lot of protecting of one another by doing this so just have to be careful that you know we don't just look at a study that comes along that especially is based on modeling and not based on real human experience and draw all of our conclusions from that we need to weigh it in context with everything else so I I don't know anyone that's using that study to to get to the rest of your question pave the way through their reopening process and hasten it in any way that would be very premature I would think okay thank you very much Joseph Gresser and Martin Honicle for Dr. Levine I'm curious last briefing who remarked that it wasn't clear whether the decline in the number of cases among younger people was due to better behavior because it had been seen in other states as well I'm curious whether there's a possibility that the coronavirus may be seasonal in nature and whether that carries with it the danger that people will see cases diminishing and instead of getting vaccinated we'll just assume the problem's over it's a great question you know so far our experience has not been that it's seasonal because it's been with us every season but of course it's because it's a new virus and there are new populations being exposed to it that have never seen it before there are a lot of infectious disease clinicians who do have the feeling that because it is a respiratory virus and now that we've been through this kind of cycle that we've been through that it will in the future establish itself itself more as a seasonal virus meaning like in the flu season when we see most of the respiratory viruses and they sort of die out after that till the next flu season so there's a distinct possibility that that will happen with this virus but again it's going to really depend on a whole bunch of variables and some of those variables include our behavior all the time but other variables include the vaccination rate and how successful that is and probably the most important variable to me right now which is the most concerning to all of us is the global picture because this virus has now established itself and every continent that I'm aware of although I haven't heard about Antarctica so I'm not 100% sure there but it's been very much on every other part of the world and most of the rest of the world if you exclude a few of the Asian countries and exclude Australia, New Zealand and some of Europe now has not had vaccine or if they've had vaccine they've had it in such small amounts that it's going to take a long time for those parts of the world to catch up and it's great that President Biden has talked about providing vaccine as much as he can to other places but the reality is there's a lot of catching up to do so I don't know how quickly this could become a seasonal virus just because it's still causing chaos and havoc in lots of parts of the world take it off from what you were just saying about the virus and other parts of the world given the situation in India and Brazil in particular does that present a real danger that varieties of the virus that are not affected by the vaccines effects could emerge and so is this one of those things that there could be a kind of rebound effect just because those places are not sufficiently provided with vaccines yeah so the short answer is yes but I don't want people to get unduly alarmed we've often said that the way the virus can develop itself and mutate is dependent on how much transmission there is from one human being to another and the more we let that pattern of transmission occur the more mutations will occur the more variant strains will occur but the good news is the majority of variant strains seen to date are impacted in a favorable way by the vaccine and even the one that's the least favorable the one from South Africa still has a pretty high rate of becoming responsive to the vaccine which is great it's a little too soon to comment on what's going on in India whatever because there's just so many cases there and we don't really know what's going to develop in terms of new strains not been told or heard that there are specific strains occurring there now that are of concern but I think it's a little too soon to state but again getting all of this under control worldwide is the key to success for all of us thank you very much and lastly Greg from the Bennington banner thank you very much my first comment questions for commissioner Harrington commissioner did coffee cup bakery slash from operate company and or their parent company provide sufficient notice that they were shutting down their operations in Brattleboro and Burlington under state law the company in the the parent company did provide notice yesterday afternoon to both myself and the agency of commerce and community development while there are provisions under the law regarding timeliness of notice and and providing prior notice there are also exceptions under the law depending on what is occurring within the organization and what the organization is doing to maybe turn a company around so with that our legal counsel is currently reviewing the warrant notices and will be having conversations with the company to better understand what activities were occurring prior to issuing the warrant notice to see whether or not any of the exemptions apply okay generally speaking do you encourage companies to inform their employees and something like this is happening because we are hearing that employees were were unfortunately taken very much by surprise in this instance yeah and and I think we would I think we would agree and I think the company would probably also agree that they would have loved to have been able to give as much notice as possible I also know that when companies are struggling and working on turnaround solutions those are very protected pieces of of information and so you're also not wanting to provide either false hope or false awareness of a company's you know concerns or struggles and so from that perspective I think there's what we would always like to be able to do and then what is actually most appropriate given the circumstance I think in in general terms we would hope that a company not only provide their employees as much notice as possible but they provide the state as much notice as possible so that we can also not only align our response services but there may also be opportunities for us to assist the company you know and and helping them get over whatever hurdle or struggle they are experiencing but again I think it really depends on on a case-by-case basis right and for for you or for the governor the governor mentioned earlier that he was aware that apparently there was some financial issues at coffee cup what what were you aware of and can you can you at all characterize what those financial issues were was it was it capital was it sufficient employee employee base was other financial issues you can disclose yeah from my standpoint I can only say that I'd heard that they had some financial difficulties over the last year or so so I don't have any any particulars just of what I heard okay governor one last question about this very unfortunate and sad situation in Plutney operating motor vehicle isn't at all privileged with serious and sometimes horrible consequences if things go wrong we're unfortunately living that reality today but that said as a state we've decided that adult privilege of driving demand accountability and transparency but we also afford that adult privilege to juveniles where there's different legal standard so my question is what should accountability look like to juvenile operators from something very adult and awful like this happens yeah it's a it's a great question very timely I think there's a lot of discussion in the legislature at this point in time as to actually increase in the age of what we consider a juvenile as well as expungible crimes and so forth so with this with this push that we've seen over the last number of years towards justice reinvestment I think that this is a timely incident in some respects to contemplate what we should be doing and what we shouldn't be doing so I expect this will be a topic of discussion in the legislature I mean but we are talking about you know a very the worst possible outcome for a situation like this and certainly adult drivers are you know who share for a juvenile driver share the road are not afforded that same consideration if if something it's something horrible happens to them so how do you how do we address that seeming double standard yeah well again driving is a privilege not a right so and it's we should consider it just that and so again this is a a I believe will be a topic of discussion in the legislature as we move forward with certain aspects of of what we should be allowing and what we shouldn't and what we need to to highlight further all right thank you very much okay with that thank you for tuning in and we'll see you again on Friday