 Good morning everyone. Today we'll be providing a brief COVID update with modeling and data from Commissioner Pichek and a health update from Commissioner Levine and then move to today's press conference topic. This afternoon my office will again send a list of this week's vaccination clinics because as I said we're not letting up on making vaccines easy to obtain. There was a White House call today the Surgeon General discussed that the rise in cases we're seeing across the country is largely driven by the unvaccinated which is why it's still important for us to push vaccinations in our states. I did ask them about the Canadian border following Canada's positive announcement yesterday. Unfortunately they continued to defer which is disappointing because I believe it's past time to open the border. After I spoke Governor Inslee from Washington State jumped in to share similar concerns as did Governor Mills from Maine. So I specifically requested a briefing from the White House team with all northern border state governors and my friend Governor Hutchinson the NGH chair assured us they'd put something together so stay tuned. At this point I'll turn it over to Commissioner Pichek for a quick modeling update before coming back to talk about infrastructure. Thank you very much Governor and good afternoon everyone. First updating our vaccination progress an additional 2,258 Vermonters started vaccination this week increasing the percentage of eligible Vermonters who have received at least one dose of the vaccine to a nation leading 83.2 percent and Vermont continues to be the national leader across the board when it comes to vaccination progress and looking at progress across our vaccination age bands we can now see the slow and steady progress mean being made generally but specifically with 18 to 21 year olds now being over that 50 percent threshold. Vermont has seen its second week of increased cases reporting 89 cases this week compared to 54 last week the majority of these cases continue to be in the unvaccinated population here in Vermont and when we look at cases by age we can see that cases continue to remain very low in the 60 and older population the population that is most at risk for COVID-19 but also the population that is the most protected against that virus and while we're seeing some slight increases among the population and those who are under 60 years old which again isn't quite as well protected as those over 60 overall we can see that cases continue to be very low compared to where they were just a few months ago and looking at the most recent forecasts we do expect cases to be a little more elevated than they were during the month of June again largely driven by the more transmissible Delta variant spreading among those who remain unvaccinated here in Vermont. Turning to hospitalizations Vermont continues to have the lowest hospitalization rates in the country and we see that the seven-day averages in the state are continuing to trend down with those requiring critical care being at a very low level. We did report a fatality this week the first reported death in the month of July but again driven by our very high vaccination rates generally and specifically among those who are most vulnerable we continue to forecast a very low fatality rate for the foreseeable future. The rising case rates is obviously not something that's confined to Vermont in the northeast cases rose 68.7 percent this week with the region reporting over 10,000 cases for the first time in seven weeks but we can see the northeast hospitalizations continue to remain stable which isn't necessarily true for other parts of the country for example in the south which is the least vaccinated region of the country their hospitalizations are more than 300 percent higher than us here in the northeast and again as the CDC has reported whether in the northeast or other parts of the country 97 percent of those requiring hospitalizations recently were unvaccinated individuals and we can see that this rise in hospitalizations is driven by the increasing prevalence of the delta variant in certain parts of the country which again is spreading quickly among the unvaccinated population just this morning the CDC estimates that 83 percent of all cases are now made up of the delta variant and some models push that number as high as 90 percent and we can see here in some time lapse graphics just exactly how the spread is occurring in other parts of the country when on June 22nd when the delta variant may be made up about 50 percent of cases some of those cases started to take hold in southern Missouri a little bit in other parts of the south but just two weeks ago we can see how that spread again to other parts of Missouri into Arkansas and starting to see spread in other parts of the south particularly in Florida and now today you can see how that spread has continued to be in much of the entire state of Arkansas Missouri into parts of Louisiana and of course also in Florida as well so those are some of the states that again see the lowest vaccination rates in the country in the northeast where we have the highest vaccination rates we continue to be well protected but again as the governor said for that you know 92,000 remaining Vermonters there are not yet vaccinated certainly a good reason to go out and do so today and with that I'll turn it over to Dr. Levine thank you so we continue to hear about the delta variants role in accelerating spread of COVID across the country in Vermont though we are well protected with high vaccination rates but even here as you've seen we've had a small increase in cases likely the result of this more transmissible variant but in light of the vaccination rate we've seen no big outbreaks so what do you need to know now first anyone who is not vaccinated is at risk and with this more contagious variant a higher risk than ever before the more people we can get vaccinated the more we can keep up that protection second the vaccines are doing exactly what they are supposed to do preventing the most serious effects of COVID-19 severe illness hospitalization and deaths we've already seen how these numbers dropped in Vermont as our vaccination rate increased the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths nationwide meaning well over 90 percent are among the unvaccinated next you may hear about a small number of vaccinated people who test positive so-called breakthrough cases I want you to know that this is not unexpected since no vaccine prevents 100 percent of infections but as you saw in the data our incidence rate of new cases among unvaccinated individuals is 12 times that of those who are vaccinated we know from national data that the delta variant accounts for the majority of virus in the US and it's expected to continue increasing in all regions so while the proportion of cases among the vaccinated population has increased over the last few months what we're seeing is that the people who become cases but who have been vaccinated are not likely to get very sick in addition we're learning from other countries specifically England and Israel that have earlier experience with delta we know that one dose of the two-dose mRNA vaccine is not as protective against delta as it has been against previous circulating viruses so completing the two-dose series is really important this is the nature of vaccines effectively controlling spread of infections and keeping everyone as safe and healthy as possible we're now more than a year out with those who started getting the vaccine as part of the large trials and I am reassured by the science that shows the vaccines now protect millions of people without any major long-term concerns so please consider this fact if you've been waiting to see what happens to those who got vaccinated because the answer is effective protection vastly reduces serious illness and hospitalizations and no lasting side effects and for the few who may have possible symptoms stay home if you're sick and consider getting tested especially if you're not vaccinated this will help protect everyone around you the healthvermont.gov slash COVID-19 website continues to have a map of available testing centers and now a map of vaccine locations as well and I'd like to just close on a non-COVID topic as especially if you're spending time in the water this summer especially days a bit less rainy than today make sure to check for cyanobacterial blooms before you go in reports of these blooms have already temporarily closed beaches in lakeshare and plain you may have also heard this called blue-green algae it can cause skin rashes diarrhea sore throat stomach problems or more serious health concerns be especially careful with small children and dogs who may drink or lick the water you can see what to look for and get a whole host of pictures to help guide you at healthvermont.gov slash cyanobacteria I'll turn this back to Governor Scott now thank you Commissioner Levine as you might have heard I was invited to the White House last week to discuss the bipartisan infrastructure framework which is being worked on in the Senate and just to be clear this is a separate proposal from the 3.5 trillion dollar reconciliation package that's also being considered in addition to the Vice President and President the meeting included two other governors the Secretary of Commerce Secretary of Labor and a bipartisan group of five mayors we had a very candid conversation about the package and how it would help our respective states and cities I think the need to upgrade our physical infrastructure is something most Americans can agree on this is an issue Republicans and Democrats have talked about for years and I think we have a real opportunity to finally get something done the infrastructure package is about 1.3 trillion and the package includes over 100 billion for roads and bridges 7.5 billion for electrical electric vehicle infrastructure which we've already made a priority here in Vermont another seven billion for electric buses to help reduce our carbon emissions and it includes billions for airports and rail this bipartisan agreement also includes 55 billion for water and sewer 65 billion for broadband which by the way should allow us to complete every county when combined with the ARPA money we've already allocated over 20 billion to remediate some of the many polluted sites across the country as well as over 70 billion to modernize the power grid and we've been assured this will be fully paid for without raising taxes on working families at my meeting I told the president and others that we have great needs here in Vermont with a lot of deferred maintenance but we need as much flexibility as possible for states because our needs in Vermont are much different than those in our neighbors to the south of New Jersey for example we're still waiting on a final bill to be released but I know they're getting close and I can't stress enough how significant this would be not only could this or would this make us more competitive create good paying jobs and help modernize our country but it would also be a much needed moral victory for a very polarized nation after all the division and partisanship we've seen over the past several years coming together with a major bipartisan piece of legislation would help us take a step towards unity and I hope bring down the partisan temperature in DC it's important that Washington proves to the American people that when we share a common goal we can deliver results so I hope the senate moves quickly on this package once it's finalized I want to thank the republican and democratic senators who've been working diligently to find common ground and I want to thank the by administration for their commitment as well I'm not turning over to secretary flan to talk about the importance of these infrastructure investments thank you governor good afternoon as the governor has said the overarching goal of the bipartisan infrastructure framework is for the nation to rebuild its infrastructure with 312 billion dollars all toll going directly to fix highways rebuild bridges and upgrading transit systems rail and airports the first component of the framework package is as the governor said 109 billion dollars for highways and bridges this funding will be used to modernize bridges highways roads and main streets that are in most critical need of repair this includes funding to improve air quality limit greenhouse gas emissions and reduce congestion in vermont we have just over 500 interstate bridges nearly 2000 state highway bridges and more than 3000 town highway bridges approximately 2% of our interstate bridges 4% of our state bridges and 2% of town highway bridges are deemed structurally deficient I want to emphasize while structurally deficient does not mean unsafe these bridges do score below targeted goals for condition vermont has 2700 miles of interstate and state centerline roadway and v-trans maintains over 6500 miles of paved road while 62% of these miles of pavement are in fair to good condition approximately one third are in poor condition or very poor condition also in vermont we have 49 000 small culverts along the interstate and state highway system and 86 000 small culverts under town highways the infrastructure package also funds major highway safety and proposes investments to improve road safety for all users including increases to existing traffic programs and a new safe streets for all program to reduce crashes and fatalities especially for cyclists and pedestrians similar to national trends vermont saw an increase in fatal crashes and fatalities between 2019 and 2020 unfortunately that trend continues today in 2021 public transit is also addressed in this package the nation's current public transit infrastructure is just inadequate the u.s. department the u.s. department of transportation estimates a repair backlog of over 105 billion dollars in transit equipment this magnitude of deferred maintenance results in service delays and disruptions that leave riders stranded and frankly discourage transit use funding will be used to modernize existing transit and help agencies expand their systems to meet rider demand this investment will double federal funding for public transit and bring bus and commuter rail service to communities and neighborhoods across the nation vermont intends to build upon the successful microtransit service in montpelier and expand it to communities throughout vermont we have 12 feasibility studies planned for this year we are also looking to expand other demand response services as well these improve access to job opportunities support those in recovery and ensures residents have the mobility to essential services and contribute to economic activity vermont has 330 transit vehicles in its fleet statewide all of which eventually need replacement we currently have electric buses totaling 18 either on the ground or in order or on order new transit maintenance facilities and administrative facilities are also needed in randolph brattle borough and in here in washington county as well as upgrades and improvements to transit facilities in lindenville middlebury and southeast vermont the bipartisan package also addresses rail nationally rail lacks a dedicated multi-year federal funding stream to address deferred maintenance and enhance existing corridors and build new lines in high potential locations there are currently projects around the country just waiting to be funded that will provide reliable and fast inner city train service and shippers reliable freight rail service in vermont we own 305 miles of the 578 miles of active rail within the state our western corridor north of ruttland to burlington is nearly complete vermont has major real rehabilitation and replacement needs along the connecticut river line between newport and white river junction and along the vermont railway from ruttland south to husik new york the bipartisan funding framework also has provisions for airport funding in the package this funding is designed to undertake critical investments in our airports including upgrades to faa assets that ensure safe and efficient air travel and a new program for terminal support renovations vermont owns nine general aviation airports and one commercial service airport our state-owned airports are in need of upgrades including runway extensions taxiways and aprons fuel infrastructure and terminal buildings and electrification improvements are also needed to meet the development of the next generation electric aircraft such as those from beta technologies here in vermont the framework also proposes funding for electric vehicles to enable automakers to spur domestic supply chains for raw materials to parts and retool factories to compete globally it will give consumers point-of-sale rebates and tax incentives to buy american-made e v's while ensuring these vehicles are affordable for all families vermont has made a significant investment in e v charging facilities vermont has the greatest number of e v stations in the nation per capita with 114 public e v stations per 100 000 people and the number of e v's registered in the state of vermont which is currently about 3700 has risen by over 300 percent since just 2015 in order to maximize the investment outcomes envisioned under this framework we are truly hoping transportation funding will be provided through existing highway and transit formulas and existing rail grant programs at 100 federal share in order to deploy economic recovery funding in the quickest and most efficient manner to rural and urban areas of every state we are also asking that short obligation deadlines be avoided in order to support programs and projects that generate the most benefit throughout the entire life cycle of the asset ranging from routine improvements that can provide immediate economic stimulus to major improvements that can substantially transform our transportation network and in general we have asked congress and the administration to provide maximum flexibility as you heard the governor say in the use of bipartisan framework package funding and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach as our state like others has unique transportation investment needs so you can see just how much the bipartisan infrastructure framework can mean for the state of vermont helping to address critical transportation needs this is why we are very excited about the proposed investment in the transportation infrastructure and we are following this very closely and now i will turn this over to commissioner tyranny thank you secretary flin as you may be aware if you've looked at the proposed framework that's come out of washington 65 billion alone has been proposed for energy investment and another substantial portion for broadband as well forgive me that's 65 billion on broadband and 70 billion for transfer energy i'm going to talk to you a little bit first about broadband and then about the energy applications of this money the framework for the infrastructure bill acknowledges that broadband is infrastructure meaning that it's equivalent to something like a highway now that is new and therefore good news it signals a very important step forward in federal policy and budget thinking around broadband it shows that washington is finally starting to get the message broadband is a necessity not a nice to have alternative to landline telephones or cable television and like a road system vermont's broadband road system needs work continuous work some roads need to be built some roads need to be upgraded and some roads need to be redesigned thankfully we have nine communications union districts in the state throughout vermont that are already hard at work on building the many last mile broadband roads we need to connect our 54 000 unserved or underserved addresses meaning places that do not currently have access to service of 25 3 megabits per second which is the current federal definition of high-speed broadband it is therefore very encouraging to see that the bipartisan framework expressly aims to provide technical assistance to communities seeking to expand broadband and that long-term planning for spending is encouraged that kind of technical assistance and approach will strongly support our cuds as they work to meet the last mile needs in their respective communities at this time the new vermont community broadband board has an appropriation from our legislature and signed by the governor of 150 million dollars of arpa funding in f y 22 this is seed money for the cuds to reach those 54 000 unserved or underserved addresses the expectation is there will be an addition 100 million of arpa funding to follow in the next two years still vermont needs more for context the estimated cost alone for the cuds foundational work on achieving universal access is between 362 million and 439 million for more context to get 100 up 100 down fiber for all vermont addresses it is estimated to cost a billion dollars so as you can see securing some part of the 67 billion dollars for vermont for broadband funding is highly desirable it's also encouraging to see that the bipartisan framework includes funding to bring down high speed internet prices across the board the price of high-speed broadband service is another compelling challenge that americans face across the nation notwithstanding that competitive markets exists to set these prices the story is the same in vermont or pricing for broadband service has only recently begun to receive attention not because it isn't an issue here but because the absence of physical access for so many has dominated for so long thereby crowding out the conversation about the cost for the service both once the connection is built and also for those who may be staring out their dining room windows at five reliance that pass them by and might just as well not be there because the service they carry is simply not affordable turning to electric transmission funding the bipartisan framework contemplates creating a centralized grid development authority at the federal department of energy and appropriating 70 billion of funding for that this is a long overdue recognition that grid resiliency and greening are not just regional or state issues these are issues of national import as well and therefore are in need of funding for planning and development on a scale that only the national treasury can facilitate what this means for vermont is that we will have a strong federal partner to focus robust resources on ensuring that the renewable energy policies that vermont and our fellow new england states have enacted are implementing implemented to lasting effect for our regional grid we urgently need to make more progress on integrating renewable generation resources into our grid both from a physical transmission perspective and in our regional wholesale market designs for many years the states have been taking the lead in affecting grid greening and modernization in the united states but overarching federal momentum is needed as well and the bar bipartisan framework signals a solid step in that direction and with that i'm going to turn this over to secretary more thank you commissioner terney good afternoon the passage of long-term and comprehensive infrastructure funding is an incredible opportunity to build rebuild aging systems in vermont including drinking water and wastewater to remediate and redevelop brownfield properties and other contaminated sites and address the challenges posed by climate change while we await final details of the bill some priorities that are important to vermonters include continued support for our water infrastructure including programs necessary to achieve clean drinking water and improve wastewater treatment over the next 10 years we estimate that vermont's water infrastructure will require investments of more than two billion dollars investments in things like refurbishing vermont's 92 existing municipal wastewater treatment systems repairs and upgrades to many of the state's more than 400 community drinking water systems almost 75 percent of which serve populations of less than 500 installing storm water management practices which are critical to addressing the harmful algal blooms dr. levine referred to in his opening remarks and achieving our water quality goals in places like lake champlain and lake memphromagog deploying nature-based solutions like floodplain and wetland restoration to minimize the impacts of extreme weather and in addition the federal infrastructure package would include funding to help prepare more of our infrastructure for the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events from 2010 to 2020 vermont has experienced extreme weather events that caused more than a billion dollars in damages the federal package is anticipated to enhance the resiliency of our infrastructure and support communities recovery from disaster by investing in the resilience of both physical and natural systems we are also anticipating the federal infrastructure package would include funding for brownfields remediation an area again where vermont has significant need our best estimate is that there are more than 5000 large and small brownfield properties in vermont at least one in almost every community in the state as well as allow for significant investments needed to complete remediation work at several former mine sites and other facilities on the national priority list covid-19 recovery dollars and the availability of one-time state monies are allowing us to initiate and accelerate work in many of these areas in a way that is unparalleled in my professional career with planned investments this fiscal year of 100 million dollars in water infrastructure and 25 million dollars in brownfield remediation and redevelopment we are incredibly grateful to vermont's federal delegation for their role in securing covid-19 recovery dollars for rural states like vermont and our own legislature for working with us to prioritize investments in core infrastructure these dollars are a short-term funding opportunity that invest in the economic recovery of our communities and support vulnerable vermonters while these dollar figures are significant and impactful given the magnitude of the need they are also a down payment on this core infrastructure timely passage of a federal infrastructure package will allow vermont to build on the momentum created by these current investments to make transformational improvements that will serve to support vermont errors for decades with high quality waters and a cleaner environment and with that i will turn it back over to the governor thank you secretary more and with that open up to questions passes how transformative do you think it could be when you think about the rural electrification act and then the highway system under president eisenhower where does something like this rank in the grand scheme of major infrastructure projects in america well it certainly will be a milestone and significant when you think about all the pieces within the infrastructure plan again to to recognize that there's so much deferred maintenance first of all so a portion of it takes care of that and the and the needs for future investments with electrification and so forth is equally as important so i think it's uh it it rates right up there with again significant investments in infrastructure and the milestone that it would provide and again bringing us up the ladder so to speak we're i think right now we're i may have this wrong but i think we're 25th uh in the world in terms of our infrastructure and we're a young country and a wealthy country and we should be up at least in the top five and uh so we have some ground to gain and uh and this is a step in the right direction regarding the the algae blooms and some of this federal cash we might be seeing you know secretary more said there is there's money for storm water but what about agriculture runoff and phosphorus i mean can can we be doing more i guess you know i'm sure we can always do more but we've made again significant gains in this area over the last three years since we all came together and decided on um a financial package to go along with clean water and so we never promised uh and i at least i have not and i'm sure many others have not either we didn't get into this situation overnight this is the result of of years uh decades of phosphorus going into our lakes and streams and then ending up in some of our major bodies of water and so it's embedded in the silt it's there for a while it's going to take a long time for us to to work our way out of this we predicted about 20 years that's why the financial package was over a 20 year period so um again i'm sure we could do more but we have other needs as well and we're we're investing about i think it's 50 million a year at this point in our the cleanup of our streams and and and lakes and ponds secretary moore you want to add anything to that i would just note that that the the covid relief funding that we have in hand does have some ability to be used for best management practices on farms infrastructure projects manure pits silage leachate treatment systems and the like the clean water board will be meeting the first week in august to take that up to look at the the arpa allocation that has been directed to the clean water board which is 10 million dollars in fiscal year 22 it's in addition to the 50 million dollars roughly that the governor spoke to uh that's in in direct state funding um and may rejigger some of the the ways that the state dollars are being deployed in light of what those federal dollars can be used for but so there will be a i think an across the board acceleration of that work it's less clear to me what the opportunities may be in the the larger federal infrastructure package but certainly with those arpa funds there is an opportunity to accelerate agricultural improvements as well governor how does this dovetail with the plan to start a fund for innovation in in farming and here in the state to bring that back and how does that dovetail into maybe this money and and efforts to make improvements to the farming and agriculture community yeah a separate initiative in some respects but it does dovetail nicely with what everything we're trying to do whether it be improving the economy keeping agriculture alive and well here in vermont and this is something that kenley squire has moved forward with the innovation fund that he's trying to push forward with will have a significant uh uh hand in the future for agriculture here in vermont but again everything that we're doing uh you know is based on those three principles growing the economy making vermont more affordable protecting the most vulnerable and protecting agriculture in vermont while making sure that we're cleaning up our lakes and streams uh is something that works together and i think we can have both is the delegation indicated what's the total vermont benefit from this 1.3 yeah i don't uh i don't know if there's enough uh detail at this point in time to come up with that figure but uh it is uh when you when you look at what arpa was for instance i think you can quickly come to the conclusion that this will will be about a billion to two billion i i believe somewhere in that category this infrastructure package this is the 1.3 trillion dollar infrastructure package i ask you a question about the board might be for dr. labine um so canada announced yesterday that we can travel north if we're fully vaccinated and we have a pcr test within 72 hours of crossing how are we going to get a pcr test within 72 hours of wanting to go up to my three dollars over will the state allow residents to go get one somewhere uh for that purpose we are still testing uh and so that would be acceptable and i believe that the turnaround time could be within that that period of a period of time i think the bigger question as you reflect on that is how do you get back so i mean you can go across the border they're accepting visitors to the north but right now the border is not open to come back so this is something that's going to have to work i mean you can get through the canadian side but you're going to come back into the states right so i don't know if that's something that's that's an issue that i'd like to talk with the white house about because it's one thing for the canadian the prime minister to open up uh their side the border to allow entry but we have to make some accommodation to get back so is your understanding that that the american border would deny an american entry i i don't know i think it's a it's a question that is remains on the insert uh because that's what i was asking about you know i thought there was going to be some reciprocity when they work together they've been in talks over the last couple of weeks and uh they clearly didn't have uh answers this morning maybe they're they'll come to some agreement conclusion but but i think that this creates maybe some more confusion at least it does on my part well on the testing issue where where do you go to get a test and is it paid for by the government yeah yes it is it is paid for the tests are still free we have like 16 or 17 fixed sites throughout the state that are still up and running so you can go there but let dr levine answer further and there is the map on the health department website that does give you a sense of what pharmacies are also testing depending on what area of the state you're in and then turn around time you know the volume of testing is diminished so much with the increase in vaccination so that the turnaround time can clearly be within a 72 hour window as a pcr test pcr test how long do you expect the tests to be free for i mean new york just a few days ago i said they'll start charging oh how i guess how long does for my kind of support that um you know it's it's paid right now by the federal government so we're going to take advantage of that as long as we possibly can maybe they know something we don't so all the northern board of governors have asked for i mean with biden administration officials right what you said well i asked uh while we're on the call i asked the nga national governor's association chair which is governor hudson uh if they would put something together for us because the when i asked my question the white house had responded with we'll get back to you and and i said well there's some other governors that have an interest as well and governor inslee came on right after me and reiterated the importance of traveling to canada and back for them for their economy and governor mills was after governor inslee and uh and repeated that so i know that you know governor sununu has an interest governor quomo as well new york has been asking for this so i think you can go all along the the entire northern part of our country and find governors who who want this open back up and the reasoning that they gave was they just weren't weren't sure about the the delta variant but if you look at the data you know they don't have the delta variant issue in canada that we do so if anyone wants to be protected it should have been them i don't think they're that's a problem for us here we already have it what's your feel for that uh the the cause for this whole uh waiting game that's going on in washington do you think it's political do you think it's something else i have a hard time believing it'd be political out of washington but uh i i would say i i mean some of its politics some of its practicality i i think they're trying to to come to grips with um whether they asked for to be honest with you um whether they asked for a vaccine type of passport you know are we going to um make it mandatory for you to present some sort of vaccination uh certificate to come back or to cross the border into the states as they have done uh in canada that's a requirement so maybe that's the problem but hopefully we'll we'll come to a better understanding when we have this meeting and hopefully we can put it together fairly soon it just seems different uh the northern border is being treated extremely differently than the southern border that's true just just on that point um so here we have a date certain for canada tomorrow's 21st and we haven't heard yet from the us side whether the border extension or restrictions will be extended or not i mean you've sort of got a vague answer at this point yes i would expect they're going to have to do something by tomorrow at least to extend it further they have to take some action Dr. Levine um quick question about masking and and schools you know i know we we talked about the cdc guidance last week um you know the cdc says that you know fully vaccinated people don't have to wear masks but the american academy of pediatrics is is recommending everybody over to wear masks regardless of vaccination status you know given what we know now about the spread of the delta variant and how that's playing out what which way are you leaning yeah you know this is a really important topic and i would hate to want people to think well the cdc's right and the pediatrics academy aap is wrong or vice versa um because they're all being uh i think basing their recommendations on science and trying to be i think in the case of aap is conservative as possible uh to keep things as safe for kids um as i've said before i'll be meeting here in vermont we've already set that up even before this panel gave its guidelines uh with infectious disease experts and other pediatricians and advisors later this week and along with secretary french as well um and we're going to weigh all of these uh varying pieces of guidance and the science really and we're going to take all of that into consideration along with our experience with basking along with uh what covet uh looks like now in vermont and what we anticipated will look like in the fall with regard to community transmission levels and we'll look at vaccination rates at least among the students who are eligible currently to be vaccinated as we prepare for the fall so you know i think you have to realize when you look at the guidances that have come out much of them are really about actually reopening school something that vermont did a long long time ago and has done very successfully so what we're planning for in vermont is a safe return to school as opposed to suddenly having to reopen school and uh invent that entire playbook again so we'll have more to say on that after these meetings we have this week uh and further consideration but i can understand where the guidance comes from because obviously kids under 12 are on ineligible at this time to be vaccinated and these organizations want to keep them as safe as possible all right we will move to the phones now starting with lisa rafki the associated press can i just i just want to follow up one more um make sure that we focus on the positive here first of all in vermont with our incredible vaccination rate 83 point what was it commissioner 83.2 percent not replicated across the country so we're in a much different place than places than other states in the deep south for instance so when the national association makes a recommendation they're doing for the entire country if they were doing it specifically for vermont they might come to a different conclusion i'm not saying that we're going to come to a different conclusion we they're going to meet and we'll follow the data and the science and and make the appropriate decision so let's not lose sight of the fact that the kids are going back to school in person in september and that's incredibly good news and i don't want to lose sight of that lisa can you hear me we can okay thanks i wanted to go back to the vaccination rate so are we seeing the rate of people getting at least one dose go up um at all from recent weeks with the spread of the delta variant i think it's been fairly level for the past few weeks which has been encouraging from my standpoint i thought we were going to continue to see a drop off but it seems to have leveled out you know it dropped off and then leveled out but we're staying fairly consistent but i'm sure with the all the news about the delta variant it it has helped promote vaccinations certainly has in other states and and hopefully uh the other uh what it's uh 16.7 or 16.8 percent will continue to get vaccinated mr pjack yeah thank you governor thank you lisa yeah so the the reports from last week we had 2,400 people start vaccination but that week did include the fourth of july holiday so we actually had eight weeks of data last week so that was 2,400 this week 2,258 so you know it's pretty stable if not even increasing a little bit this week compared to last week considering that discrepancy in the number of days um and if you look to other states and other countries you are seeing the vaccination rates tick up again so i think the message is getting out there and it's an important message so hopefully we'll continue to see stable if not increasing rates here in vermont okay and then i have another question for dr louvain um in these breakthrough cases what kind of symptoms are are people having i know that they're mild and keeping them out of hospital but are they pretty minor symptoms yeah there's obviously a spectrum but when we say mild we're talking about mild upper respiratory symptoms perhaps a cough perhaps aches like one would get with a flu-like illness but nothing lasting and nothing that is serious enough to cause any you know concern about oxygen levels hospitalization all of the more serious aspects of covid so on the milder side for sure okay thank you and barbara new pork ailey express i have two questions so first of all sir uh dr louvain um over the last month or two i've asked you if you have any updated uh information about the vaccination rate in ethics county i think there's a lot of people get the medical care across the river and enhancer uh do you have any updated information that will tell us what the vaccination rate is for people who live in that in that area he's conferring with commissioner p check i think they'll get that for you so okay doesn't have an answer no the answer i have an answer the range was in the 54 to 56 range um and we did do some conferring with new hampshire um you know as i've said before they have a new registry and we've had a little trouble making sure that we are reconciling the data appropriately and that there's no duplication we think that there's another four percent that we could add to that which would bring sx county close to or equal to 60 percent so um still not the top county in the state by any means but certainly a much more respectable i think representation of of reality there um not as low as the previous numbers may have made people believe and we continue to have uh ongoing efforts um in the northeastern part of the state with vaccination opportunities excuse me and the other question i have different topic about the governor i know it's i know it's a tough question to answer but um since um it is the latest uh first slowing down the program of keeping homeless people sheltered in hotels and hotels whatever uh do you have any idea right now where they're going and not effectively are they maintaining um you know hotels and hotels and all that and assimilating into uh the other housing do you have any idea or any data that shows us where they're going what they're doing i don't have that information uh right now but i would say about a a third of those who were involved in the hotel motel program i have left but it's but we still have i think 1500 or so still in the program as uh as i think i remarked earlier uh pre-pandemic we had about 300 involved in the program so again i can have secretary smith or someone give you a call on that ed and follow up i just don't have that information you're still there well if you can still hear us we'll have secretary smith follow up with you and we'll move to lisa lumis the value reporter good afternoon i want to follow up on lisa rafki's question about breakthrough cases and ask how does that impact or affect your ongoing immunity does it enhance it does it prolong the efficacy of your vaccine or are these mild cases not conferring as much ongoing immunity i wish i could give you an answer to that question um i'm not sure we have enough study to understand how to answer that question because keep in mind the vaccines are new we know a lot about how they provide additional immunity to people who were previously infected i don't think we have a lot of data on people who are vaccinated and then get a mild infection um science would tell me that um you're going to have an antibody response again to that but i'm not sure really if it's been studied so i can't really say much more than that at this point in time good question though thanks for your time that's it for me i'm davis compass from davis and the question from my business magazine hi governor i'm wondering if michael herrington is available i had a question about the unemployment report i believe he is go ahead uh commissioner um there's always revisions or usually there were revisions but that was especially um large revision going up to 3.1 percent i know this is isn't exactly i know the u.s. census these care a lot of this but um can you explain what um might have caused that uh thanks for bringing this up i i did have a conversation with our chief economist matthew barrowick in our labor market information division about this yesterday um you know it is a revision that's done based on the numbers collected at the the federal level through the household survey so i think based on what i've heard um is is more or less the the challenge given covid around capturing definitive data and so that is why they call it preliminary like you said this is a much larger change than we've seen in the past but a lot of this i think is just the data catching up with itself there wasn't when i spoke with him there wasn't any one significant reason that would have caused this change in the numbers really more um just a finalizing of the numbers based on the data and the constant review of the data but i think what we're finding is that it it's extremely challenging when you've got multiple programs some state programs some federal programs when you're trying to calculate unemployment rates across multiple states um and then we get into the methodology for how the unemployment rate is calculated and we have things like covid qualifying scenarios or states that have work search turned on or off so there's a lot of factors that really weren't part of the way the model was originally designed now factoring into the modeling um but we do believe that you know the change in the unemployment rate and and the increase in the unemployment rate is really more based on the fact is a more true number because it's based on the fact that more people are actively looking for work now um as you know the the household surveys conducted by the us census bureau and that information then flows through the us bureau of labor statistics the survey has individuals when it conducts the household survey if they are actively looking for work or have looked for work in the past four weeks and so if someone was not conducting a work search or was quarantining or had some other factor that played into that um from a health perspective they would not have been counted in the unemployment rate and even though they may be um uh considered part of the um the labor market so from that perspective i think we're just getting more accurate information as we true up the numbers um month over month i was also wondering uh commissionary have this in front of you how much the state is still getting in the federal stipend you know it's the um i assume it's going down but do you not much uh is coming in a week on that just clarify from we can when you say federal stipend that the 300 a week that the that they're providing until september yeah so i i'm not in totality i just don't have a number in in front of me but what we end up so there are essentially three base programs there's regular state unemployment which comes out of the state trust fund those individuals that have exhausted that period of eligibility are now on pandemic unemployment emergency unemployment compensation which is the federal extended benefit but we also have the pandemic unemployment assistance program so those three base programs house the total amount of unemployed individuals that are collecting benefits and all of those are eligible for the 300 so um from that perspective we know that our numbers are uh and i just i don't have the exact number in front of me but the most recent number i saw was around 15 000 total claimants give or take um so that that would be how much um we're paying out uh for the 300 dollars uh for per weekly claim i'll send kyle's note and see if um maybe he can rustle up those numbers and that's it for me thank you thank you and i think we have tom davis back on so we'll try going back to him and then to erin thanks jason uh appreciate it uh i want to follow up on the infrastructure specifically when it comes to the bridges uh in german i've had some communication already but with the aot has been really helpful one curiosity i have is will you be updating in your databases or in some other place uh which bridges will go under construction in which sequence um that's question number one thank you tom uh the agency of transportation has a v transparency click on its website and you can see all of our projects listed on that but i can also have the structures division follow up with you specifically uh to not only show you how to source that but to get you that list of future projects thank you very much the other question i have is uh part of this is the is the adoption of the standards that vermont took on in 1997 has a minimum requirement of between the width of the road in the spacing of the guardrail the at least two scenes we know vermont has lots of narrow bridges a lot of them will pull makeover and replace definitely do not have that two-foot clearance on either side will that be addressed if they're not on the list to be to be working i think they're referred to as what functionally obsolete or something of that nature so um we'll have to see what the rules what rules are written we don't know how this money is going to be dispersed whether it's going to be through the existing formulas or they're going to have i don't think that's you tom is it okay um okay we'll uh we'll have to see uh that's that's part of you know getting this right and getting the details and i think that's uh where the senate the congress is working at this point just ironing out all those uh details uh that do matter so we'll see what comes out in the end appreciate always the uh the uh information aot is always really great about getting back to people very much appreciated that's all i have thank you tom erin potanko bt digger got half of that erin yes uh okay well hopefully i get clearer as time goes on um i uh i have a question i think this is for dr levine um i get a lot of questions on you know what to breakthrough cases among vaccinated for monsters looks like um you know how how low are they is usually the main question and i usually end up deferring people to the department of health um weekly presentation which occasionally has you know updates on breakthrough cases but we don't have any details on how many breakthrough cases there have been over time uh the age of breakthrough cases the regional distribution of breakthrough cases do you have any plans to kind of provide for monsters with more detailed data on vaccinated breakthrough cases yes i think we had one weekly update it was a period of time ago that devoted a few pages to that uh but we haven't done that on a consistent basis so far we've had 276 cases all together of breakthrough cases keep in mind we're talking about over 420 000 people fully vaccinated in vermont to date um so we're still talking at a rate of about seven and 10 000 um in terms of the details about you know ages and what have you um i can't give you that right now off the top of my head but we can provide an update for you um at the next press conference yeah i think that would be appreciated but i also think that um you know you guys have a data portal you have you know other ways of publishing data on a regular basis and now these weekly updates only come out every two weeks and they only have a few pages devoted to breakthrough cases i think you know a lot of people aren't even aware that they exist or want more detailed data to be provided in those updates yeah i can understand that completely i do want to emphasize again um how small a portion of the fully vaccinated population these cases comprise though each and every one of them are still important i agree um but the frequency of them uh is not going to be high needless to say yeah i do appreciate that that context and i think that you know to a degree maybe providing more data will help to kind of emphasize our quality absolutely yes absolutely and i do want to emphasize with firm honors the fact that um the so-called breakthrough case does not represent a failure of vaccination it represents a success of vaccination because these are not cases that are having severe outcomes these still represent the vaccine protecting vermonas in the large proportion of vermonas from any serious outcomes from contracting covid um so yeah all right thanks very much hey wallace allen seven days hi thank you um my first question is for uh commissioner tearney um i know you don't have a lot of the details yet but i am curious if i could you could tell me a little bit more about the timeline for for the broadband the last mile that you talked about and um any more details you could give us about the cost and thank you for those questions they're they're excellent questions but i'm afraid i really can't give you more information as you are well aware the state of vermont has a statutory goal of getting fiber built out by 2024 and clearly that timeline has been overcome by events alone because of the flood of federal funding that's coming out now for broadband across the nation this is causing supply issues as well so i think it's it's fair to say that it will be done as quickly as possible i think these are questions that you will increasingly want to pose to the executive director of the vermont community broadband board um miss hallquist i have heard her tentatively say that we're looking at getting the job completed in five to ten years but that is going to change as the facts on the ground unfold as for costs the the numbers that i gave you in my remarks a moment ago come from the ten-year telecommunications plan that was just published on june 30th so they're the product of the analysis that was done by the department and the consultants we were working with and so that is a pretty reliable and good start the billion dollar cost that i gave you for the the complete fiber hundred up hundred down build out to every address in the state the billion dollar estimate derived from the majelin report that was done i think in 2018 in that time frame keeping in mind that that was contextual because that analysis was directed at assessing whether electric utilities could do the job but that is the the best information we have so far and i'm sorry that that doesn't quite meet your needs did you have other questions um no my my follow-up was about about was about that billion dollars it doesn't really seem as though the state is going to have a billion dollars at its disposal certainly not but keep in mind that the things are changing on the ground because once you get the cd's in those territories going you know industry has a rule to play here too and healthy competition takes root and you know once they see that folks in the you know in the underserved and unserved arena have a hundred up hundred down fiber i think that's going to spur a desire on the part of existing service providers to compete and so i would expect that some of that funding is going to arise necessarily from the competitive market dynamics you can see that already in consolidated for instance where they're going through their service territory now and they're redoing many of their lines with fiber so it's not all it's not all you know it it's a good picture i think but because the the demand for improvement has pent up for so long it's understandable that we're you know all sitting on the edge of our chairs going when is this finally going to be done and what i can tell you is that this federal initiative is a most welcome step that is long overdue that has eluded the country for many many years and for that reason alone is excellent news anything else no i should i should do it thank you so much my pleasure i do have a i do have a question for the governor governor have you heard anything about the peculiar um proposal to allow camping in city parks for the homeless i i don't know the details i i have heard that they are going to have um the discussion the city council is discussing that but i don't know if they've come to any conclusion yeah it sounds like they're gonna have a vote this week and that um they're sort of looking at hubbard park but as far as i can tell it would include any city park and you know the the community is talking about how they they they are historically a community who want to help people but some people are saying that this might not be a good thing for the capital city to have um camping and i just i've wondered you know since it is sort of the capital that if you had any thoughts about whether people should be camping in the park i i think they'll arrive at a decision obviously a local issue and they'll have to decide amongst themselves so i don't believe i think of course wouldn't include some of the state property around the community it would have to be in city-owned land yes indeed all right local issues thank you guide please come on daily chronicle governor the various federal reporting system now shows 11 deaths in brahmat and 68 serious adverse events given that brahmat has no COVID-19 deaths under the age of 30 what do you say to college students who cannot now attend uvm uh unvaccinated and those who don't want to be uh cannot now attend uvm uh because they're more concerned about adverse effects about vaccination than getting COVID itself i i would say i would advocate for them to get vaccinated listen to the data the science and uh with this new variant i believe that that could change some of the historical data has shown that they may not be as susceptible to death and and adverse health conditions if contracting the virus but this is a new a new variant and this could change dr levine and guide it's important to again note that the VAERS system is a reporting system that a person themselves can report to their family member can report to or a healthcare professional can report to it is considered by the cdc to be an early warning system to cast a wide net to bring anything that could possibly be connected to a vaccine as an adverse effect uh become uh subject to investigation so it is not a certified data system that actually has uh deaths or adverse outcomes uh guaranteed to have been related to the vaccine and investigated in a way that one can make a conclusion i will say that there are zero deaths reported in the state of vermont in terms of the medical examiner and others certifying on a death certificate there are zero deaths related to the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine so many of these uh events that are listed on the VAERS system not to uh denigrate any of the data at all but the reality is they are just raw reports that have not been further investigated or in many cases have been investigated and have not been confirmed to be what they may say they are so just to be clear okay uh thank you uh governor do you see that with this infrastructure is this going to mean a whole-scale transition of vermont's energy grid to uh distributed power wind that sort of thing is that is that going to be one of the outcomes of this well we needed if we're going uh to the few move into the future to more electrification of vehicles and so forth we have to upgrade the grid just like every other piece of infrastructure whether it's the charging infrastructure or the grid itself and then more reliance as you are probably well aware on electricity um the more up to date it needs to be so we i believe that there this is a step in the right direction it's about prevention uh from any uh um effects of uh of overuse of the the grid so i think um i think this makes a lot of sense mr tirney hi guy june tirney here i thought i heard you ask whether this was going to effectuate a wholesale adoption of distributed generation and the like and i think it's too soon to say that but what this will do is provide a federal view of what ought to happen and where and how on when it comes to greening the grid and modernizing the grid from a national perspective and that is the force that's been missing in my estimation to date uh the states have done an excellent job compensating for the absence of such a voice but that is not exactly what the FERC has been doing or iso or other um regional grid operators and so you know this is an opportunity for the department of energy to finally give voice to why the nation needs to up its game on greening the grid and integrating renewable energy resources does that answer your question yes thank you you're welcome andrew mcgregor calonian record uh yeah thanks can you hear me we can yep uh for commissioner levine then um uh a lot of discussion about the threat of the delta variant unvaccinated being most at risk and children under 12 not yet eligible for vaccines what is the advice and guidance that you offer to families this summer you know especially with kids congregating at camps and on sports teams um masks really seem to be a thing in the past even among uh the unit again dr levine will give you a complete answer but i just want to remind everybody where we're at here in vermont we don't have a lot of community spread because most people are vaccinated so i think we're in a pretty good place at this point in time and that's very very true the reality is the delta variant is more transmissible but again people who are vaccinated are still highly protected and even when we talk about these so-called breakthrough cases the level of protection across the population is still quite good which is why we're not seeing major outbreaks like they are in states where the vaccination rate especially in some of the rural areas is quite low and uh where you saw commissioner p-check's map light up in purple are all of those areas uh unvaccinated people who could be vaccinated but have chosen not to be and a very transmissible variant of virus so keep that in mind if if a child is under 12 and not currently eligible for vaccination yes that does make them eligible to get covid of course but at the same time i need to say that we still see less and less infections in children than we do in adults with delta that's changed a little that's increased the amount of children getting infected but that doesn't mean that every child is going to get infected because they haven't the opportunity to be vaccinated and it certainly doesn't mean that we're seeing more serious outcomes in whatever infections do occur in young children so keep that in mind we're not seeing again the hospitalization rates in vermont really tick up at all at this point in time with regard to having this variant that we assume is causing more and more of the infections in the state so obviously parents want to do the most they can to keep their children safe and and i certainly don't want to reduce their enthusiasm for that but at the same time i do believe that because the vaccination rate in the state is so high there's going to be less transmission of virus from person to person so hopefully less opportunity for any variant to be spread from person to person which should be protective in itself and with such a few cases lately at the state able to sequence all the positives that come through now yeah i was hoping to have some data to present today but the earliest that might come back is this evening so i can't give that to you right now but as our case numbers are not real high and our capacity for doing sequencing is increasing will be doing sequencing on an increasing proportion of all the cases right now though i don't have any data to give you not from our own lab or from the broad lab in boston which does these intermittently they don't do that every time they get a result so we we kind of have to wait to get that back as well as the cdc data back okay thank you Greg sickening thank you very much hello and good afternoon governor the Vermont state college system has hit pause in the critical occupations free tuition scholarship program after just two weeks due to overwhelming demand there's now waiting list i was wondering if uh first of all your thoughts on the strong demand for these training programs and second whether you support uh allocating more arpa dollars for the program or flexibility within their budget to find money to continue to make this more available well first of all it's good news people who want to improve their skill sets i think that's something that's that's essential as we move forward with what we really need is more people moving into vermont because the labor force is something that is uh is uh is an issue that we face before the pandemic and it's become more problematic through the pandemic in terms of whether i would support it's a discussion we'll probably have with the with the legislature at some point in time but but but i think it's again good news for for those who are actively pursuing a higher degree or certification that's it thank you very much i just want to go back to andrew for a minute the best way for vermont to protect the ineligible until those 12 and under have a vaccine that's approved and we're hearing that it could be in september and when there's one approved for a younger age group but the best way for us to protect them is for us to continue to vaccinate the eligible those that 16.8 percent that are still unvaccinated so we should all do our part we're going to do our part to make it as accessible as possible and as easy as possible because it's never too late this is a good day to get to get vaccinated and if it's not today make it tomorrow so with that i think we're done we'll see you again next tuesday