 Good morning, everyone. I'm Mike Smith, Secretary of Human Services. Governor Scott is currently on another call with fellow governors and White House officials, but he'll be joining us shortly, as always, on Tuesdays. Today, I will review the vaccination timeline we announced on Friday and provide an update on our progress with the vaccination program. I also want to share an important milestone. One in three Vermonters have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and it's expected shortly, maybe even by the end of the week, that one in five Vermonters will have received both doses of Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine. These Vermonters are either fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving their final dose or on their way towards full vaccination. We are one step closer to ending this pandemic, and we're encouraged by the high percentage of Vermonters in each eligible age group that have made an appointment to receive a vaccine. So now let's start with a reminder that this accelerated vaccine schedule begins this Thursday, March 25th. For those aged 60 and over, registration will open at 8.15 a.m. You can register online at healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine. This is the preferred method. If you don't have online access, you can call 855-722-7878 if you're unable to sign up online. For remaining age groups, registration opens on March 29th for those aged 50 and over, April 5th for those aged 40 and over, April 12th for those aged 30 and over, and April 19th for those aged 16 and over. Please remember, it will take approximately two months before you have gotten all your doses of your vaccine and are considered fully vaccinated. The date registration opens for your age group is the date you are eligible to be vaccinated. The goal is to have all Vermonters fully vaccinated by July 1st. We are focusing on administering as much vaccine to Vermonters as quickly as possible. We are administering between 3,700 to 7,900 doses per day. That's per day. Our average per day average is 5,500 daily Vermonters vaccinated. And as you know, we have clinics all over the state seven days a week. As the amount of vaccine we receive from the federal government increases, we will continue to increase capacity to administer it, which includes activating a contingent of the Vermont National Guard on April 15th. Our healthcare partners and the Vermont National Guard are essential partners in this vaccination process. We have activated the guard throughout the month of March. We will again activate them on a larger contingent on April 5th. So the overall progress today in terms of overall progress as of this morning, 1,000, excuse me, 179,600 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19. 82,500 have received their first dose of vaccine. 97,100 have received their first and last doses. 86% of those 75 and older have been vaccinated. 86% of those 70 to 74 have been vaccinated. And 66% of those aged 65 to 69 have been vaccinated. Turning to our educator clinics, a total of 23,000 educators and eligible childcare providers have received a first dose or have made appointments. Upcoming educator clinics still have available appointments, including March 25th in St. Albans, which has 103 openings. Other clinics with available appointments include Berlin, Grand Isle and Plainfield on March 26th, Wells River on March 27th, and Rutland and Hartford on March 29th. We want to make it easy as possible for you to make an appointment to get a vaccine. I want to remind everyone that you can make an appointment at one of our health partner clinics through the state website, which includes Costco and Walmart. So if you want to make an appointment to one of our vaccination sites, please use the state website, which includes Costco and Walmart. If you can, you can also make an appointment directly with Kenny Drugs, CVS Pharmacy or Walgreens. All these options are available at healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine. Please remember to cancel your appointment in the state system if you get a vaccine at one of the participating pharmacies. That will allow us to reallocate that appointment to someone else. Again, I encourage everyone to go ahead and create an account online at healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine so you can simply log in and make an appointment when it's your turn. Thank you, and I'll now turn it over to Commissioner Pichek for our weekly modeling update. Thank you very much Secretary Smith and good morning everyone. I again want to start today with the data that holds the most promise and is having one of the biggest impacts in Vermont, which is the number of Vermonters who are stepping up to get vaccinated. As Secretary Smith mentioned, the uptake among our oldest residents who are also our most vulnerable residents representing 90% of Vermont's COVID-19 deaths continues to be strong with more than 85% of residents 70 and older now having started or completed vaccination and those 65 to 69 saw a 28% increase this week, moving up from in the low 50s to the mid 60s and many more ready to get vaccinated in the days and weeks ahead. And when we look across the country, we see that Vermont now stands as the second highest vaccine uptake among our most vulnerable population to date. Again, many more are scheduled to be vaccinated over the days and weeks ahead, but as a group, we stand at over 80% for those that are 65 and older who have started or completed their vaccination. This early uptake bodes well for both protecting our vulnerable Vermonters now and also the expected vaccine uptake we plan to see across all age groups into the future. Again, the key to ending the pandemic, protecting our communities and returning to normal is for all of us to get vaccinated. This small step will turn the tide against the virus and help save lives. This week, we reported 850 new COVID-19 cases and increase of 61 cases over the last week's total. But again, as you can see looking a little bit further back at the last five weeks on a 14 day average, our cases have remained relatively stable here in Vermont, averaging somewhere between 100 and 120 cases on average a day. But again, even though our cases have remained relatively high recently, the cases among our most vaccinated who are also our most vulnerable continues to remain low and continues their downward trend. While cases are only down 25% since the overall peak in January among those that are 70 and younger, those that are 70 and older have seen a 75% decrease, a considerably more decrease in the trend continues to go down, even as cases remain stagnant among the younger age groups. We continue to see the impact of the vaccine's protection and long-term care facilities as well. While cases again have remained relatively high across the state, they continue to be very low among our long-term care facility residents having reported just six cases in the past three weeks. You'll see that there are currently four long-term care outbreaks that are active. But again, these outbreaks remain considerably smaller than the outbreaks we saw in December and January before our vaccination program had made as much progress as it has today. We continue to see the favorable impact of vaccination with our median age of COVID-19 infected Vermonters following to 29 years old. This is the first time the median age has been below 30 since September. September was a month when we did not have a single COVID-19 death, nor did we have a single COVID-19 ICU admission. So again, this should give us some hope as we look into the future. The Vermont case forecast continues to remain stable without much change this week, with the short-term projections again anticipating cases to remain relatively high, and then cases expected to decrease as we get further in our vaccination program, and nicer weather means that we can spend more time outdoors where it is safer. Turning to hospitalizations, we are also seeing the favorable impact of vaccinations on this metric as well. The total current hospitalizations are down 62 percent since the peak in early February, and down 16 percent over the past seven days. But again, we are seeing that there are many fewer Vermonters who are age 70 and older going to the hospital when they contract COVID, and this is one of the reasons for the decrease overall. Individuals 70 and over requiring hospitalization have dropped significantly between January and February and are on pace for a lower month in March as well. And with more individuals 70 and older who are started or completed vaccination, which is leading to fewer cases and fewer hospitalizations among that age group, we are also thankfully seeing that impact on our fatality rates as well with the weekly COVID-19 deaths continuing to decrease over time. Measuring from the start of the year, Vermont has had the second lowest per capita fatality rate in the country, and the two states closest to Vermont, Alaska and Hawaii, certainly have a very different and geographic advantage in terms of their isolation to mainland United States. So Vermont is doing exceptionally well when it comes to fatalities overall since the vaccination program has started in earnest. Across the country, you can see that the impact vaccines are having is making an impact there as well with the seven day daily death rate falling 24 percent over the past 10 days. And while deaths continue to fall across the country, cases have stalled or even increased in recent days. And when you look at the case growth regionally, you can see some differences in the trend with the northeast and the Midwest seeing their cases clearly stalled or increasing while the south and the west have actually continued on a downward trajectory recently. Looking at it from a state by state perspective, you can see this trend as well. And it's worth pointing out Michigan in particular, who has seen a very large increase in their cases over the past two weeks and has actually seen an increase in their hospitalizations as well. This is at the same time they're seeing variants reported in high numbers and while their vaccination program is lagging as well. So this is again a reminder for Vermonters about how important it is for us to win the race here in Vermont against the variants by stepping up and getting vaccinated when it's your turn. Taking a look around the region, we see that cases in the northeast are ticking up a bit with 8,000 more cases this week compared to last. And again, we can see that each jurisdiction in our region with the exception of Quebec saw their cases go up this week compared to last. Finally, looking at the heat map today compared to two weeks ago, you can see that there's been relatively little change in the region over the last few weeks. And like we said here in Vermont and across the region, hospitalizations and fatality rates do continue to decrease. So even though cases have remained stable, even increased across the region, hospitalizations and deaths are continuing to fall as well. And with that, I would like to turn it over to Dr. Levine. Thank you. As you've seen, the northeast has had an increase in cases. Our cases in Vermont while averaging in the 120 range are ranging from 50s to the 150s. Hospitalizations in the last day have ticked up a slight amount to 27. Stable ICU 5. Positivity rate 1.6%. Dets have only increased by 1 and are now at 220. This again though, as you saw in the data, is testimony to our vaccination strategy. I think we're all feeling the same sense of relief right now that winter's coming to an end. The first real warm weather in sunshine is always more than welcome after a long Vermont winter, but this feels especially energizing and hopeful after long months of, for some, isolation. But you're probably aren't looking to me for a weather report. When paired with all the good news about our progress in vaccination, it's easy to feel like the end of the pandemic is near. So here's the forecast I do want to give you. Things are indeed moving forward, but I have to caution that though we know changes are coming to life as we've known it in the past year, they're not here quite yet. If you've been listening to any of the public health experts on national media, I hope the message you're getting is that we are all aligned in our assessment of where things stand. You've just seen the data. The favorable, steady declines in cases seems to have reversed somewhat nationally, especially regionally and even locally. Not a gloom and doom message by any means, but neither should anyone yet declare victory. We know the finish line is near. We can almost see it, but it's also the point in the race where stumbles can be most risky. I want you to get outside, get some exercise, plant those gardens and enjoy these moments together, but please do so safely. We're still in a very delicate time where the virus and its variants can and will take advantage of us if we let our guard down. It has the potential to set us back in our efforts, hampering us in the race. Only by continuing to wear our masks, keep our distance and avoid crowds can we continue to keep the virus at bay while we vaccinate as many Vermonters as we can as quickly as we can. Keep the gathering small, try to avoid travel that's not essential and get tested. The news of the vaccines we have continues to be good and others in the pipeline pending FDA approval. The prospect of an additional vaccine may not have an impact on our current vaccination plans, but I welcome the continued research and review. It's important to have vaccines we can rely on here and on a global level. This is recall a pandemic and with the return to global travel again on the horizon, we want to be sure that variant strains of concern do not develop here or anywhere. Now the vaccines are not all the same, but I want to emphasize that they are all proven to be safe and effective. They use technologies that have been many years in the making. This amazing science has produced in just over a year, which is unprecedented in medical terms, not one, not two, but three vaccines that can help prevent sickness and death from COVID in the United States right now. Think about where we are now and where we would be without them. And when it comes to the type of vaccine you may get, I do want you all to know the best one you can get is the one you can get right now. It's okay to ask questions, to learn more about the vaccines that are available, but while this pandemic is still raging, there just isn't time to wait. Get your shot, whichever one it is, when it becomes available to you. Before closing, I want to make one more request. Up until now, a huge part of the emphasis has been on older and more vulnerable Vermonters watching out for themselves and doing everything they could do to avoid getting COVID. And for the rest of us, to try to protect them as much as we could by abiding by the safety guidance and not potentially transmitting or exposing them to COVID. While now, as you've seen, older people are far more protected by vaccine or soon will be. So the next request I am making to Vermonters, especially those in the teenage years to age 40, is that you protect yourself. You've seen the data, the highest case counts are now among people in these age groups. Why worry about protecting yourself? Because of a topic I haven't touched upon recently, but which has made a comeback again in the news cycle, Long Hall COVID or PACS, Post Acute COVID Syndrome. I've talked about this a number of times previously. It's true we have so much more to learn about this and to understand how many people are at risk. But whether the number is 10% or 30%, all I know is that this pandemic has been called the largest mass disabling event in some time. And it does not spare a person because they are young. And we don't know enough about it yet to accurately predict who might be at risk. Chronic symptoms that continue to surface three or four months after initial illness, even when the initial illness is mild, and those symptoms don't seem to go away. With many possible manifestations, from chronic fatigue, to shortness of breath, to exercise intolerance, to brain fog or memory loss. I don't want anyone to risk developing this, to have your lives hindered by what is starting to become an avoidable virus. To avoid it, it really isn't that tough. Simple prevention advice. One, don't let your guard down now in this home stretch. Keep up with masking, keep up with masking, keeping a safe distance from others and avoiding crowds. Two, get tested if you find you've been in a risky situation, or think you might even have minor symptoms. And three, get vaccinated. After enduring what you have for the past year, you owe it to yourself. The governor will make his comments when he returns from his White House phone call, so we'll open things up now. Thanks, Rebecca, and thanks, Dr. Levine. So this is probably a question for maybe you and Commissioner Pichek as well. You know, your, Commissioner, your forecast still says we're going to have, you know, high cases, and then we're still dipping off in late April. I guess given the spread of the variant and those new strains, you know, how confident are you in your projection? I'll just comment on the variants as he comes up to the podium. So the B117, which is the UK variant, is 50% more transmissible than what we've been accustomed to. So for accustomed to one person being able to infect one other person, this would mean one and a half of people. The B1429 variant, which is the most recently one we've discovered here from California, is 20% more transmissible, so it doesn't make as huge a big difference in how it's transmitted. Thanks for the question, Calvin. You know, all along we've said that it's really personal choices, personal behavior that's really going to dictate the future in Vermont, and all the more true here. But what's unique now is that that personal decision, that personal behavior is about stepping up and getting the vaccine when it's your turn. You know, if we get the type of vaccine uptake among the younger groups that we're seeing among the older groups, you know, I think there's a great deal of confidence in this forecast, and the forecast is accounting for an increase in vaccination. Of course, the weather improving and people being able to spend time outdoors more safely, there's certainly gives us some hope and some confidence there as well. But then just look what we talked about in Michigan. I mean, when they have a lagging vaccination program, they have a lot of variants already in their state. They're seeing their cases rise. I mean, there is still that real concern that that can happen anywhere. But what Vermonters can do is, you know, keep themselves safe and get vaccinated in the meantime. The governor, but I mean, you look at the messaging and how you reach some of these populations of younger people. I mean, you know, I guess, what does that look like? Right? I mean, 18 year olds, 19 year olds might not be reading the news every day. And I'm just thinking of the spread of the variant that we're seeing at UVM. So how do we reach that level of communication or update? I'll let Dr. Levine talk a little bit about the strategy around getting to those. Vermonters, they're a little bit maybe hard to get to. So as we get closer to where those age groups fall, you're going to see a variety. You may not see them, but hopefully those age groups will see a variety of messaging campaigns, much on social media, but not exclusively, some on very traditional media. And really what it tries to get at is where their hesitancy is and try to work with them, as opposed to just dictate to them, get a vaccine, because that doesn't work for anyone, and really understand their characteristics better and what makes them feel that getting a vaccine may not be in their best interest. I was very specific in my comments today to address this post-acute syndrome, because it is a rising concern. The medical community as a whole knows very little about it when you think about it, the fact that we've had a year now, but we're seeing more and more, and we're hearing more and more about this. And I don't wish that on anybody. And we're hearing that even in a younger population who had a milder illness, these can creep up on them over months and be very debilitating. And then finally, there's also going to be, I think, a little bit of emphasis on access, because sometimes it's not a very profound reason why someone's not getting vaccinated. It may be as simple as, it doesn't fit in my schedule. I don't have time. I have to go out of my way. I have to go set up an appointment here or there. So as we start thinking about our high school students, our college students, there are certainly opportunities to perhaps at that stage of the campaign bring vaccine to them, because the reality is we will have gone through so much vaccine already, and so many people who are eligible will already have had their chance that we may be in a excess of supply and be able to have the luxury of doing that. And I know there's also things like drive-throughs, where you essentially don't even get out of your car, which could certainly be attractive at those times as well. And of course, it'll be warm weather. It'll be perfect for that. Follow-up from the governor. Thank you. All set. Thank you. Good morning. Will the no travel rule for the not yet vaccinated remain in place, even as cases and certainly deaths decline? I mean, in other words, is the rule going to remain in place until we are all fully vaccinated? Were you using the word rule? I don't want that to be misleading because that's not a rule in Vermont. I do know that in CDC circles, they're still counseling against travel, or they're calling it unnecessary travel, what have you. So I think at this time of uncertainty where variants and increases in counts and things are happening and vaccination hasn't fully set in, they're not counseling for travel. But I think you can expect to see things change in that over the ensuing months. So if you're not yet vaccinated, you are still awaiting your turn. You would be permitted to leave Vermont to go to New Hampshire or Maine or something? First, we just note that there is not a no travel rule. There's just a quarantine requirement if you do travel. So I just want to clarify that that folks are able to travel, but they must quarantine, though it's discouraged to do not essential travel. Right, right, right. And then I would just point you to what the governor has said about rolling out a longer term plan in the coming weeks. So I think you can expect more information on this. Okay. Okay. Thanks. Yes. Thanks. With Dr. Levine sending this message out to younger people to protect themselves. And we've seen an uptick in cases recently and in Vermont recently, as well as one other thing I want to ask. Can someone there describe, I know the governor's not in the room yet, but can someone talk about the decision to allow bars to open? About what about bars? Allowing bars to open maybe commission sectionary currently? Yeah, I'm happy to help with that. You know, bars will be permitted to open on Wednesday, but they're required to follow the restaurant guidance. What that means is that their patrons need to be seated and they need to be seated if they're at tables, at tables that are no larger than six. And if they're seated at a bar, there has to be a plus-to-plus variable between the, you know, somebody that's preparing drinks, for example, and their patrons that are sitting at the bar. It also means the last call is at 10 o'clock. It also means that they have to keep logs of their customers for 30 days. So the idea of a bar being open is not, as you imagine, people standing shoulder to shoulder having their cocktails socializing. They can come in and they can be seated, but bars are able to do this without serving food as well. They can serve just beverages if they want to to the people that are that are there seated. Is that helpful? Yes, I was hoping you could talk about the decision, what went into the decision to allow them to open. I'm sure that, you know, they've been closed for a long time and are hurting economically. Sorry, I was on mute. You know, our team talked a lot about, you know, that the bars and the social clubs were arguably fully closed. And we've been wanting, you know, to try to find a way for them to safely be reopened. And again, with more of our at-risk population being vaccinated, we agreed that, you know, we were not seeing transmission transmission in the restaurant from the guests that were seated, as I just described. And so this was a path forward. It's a really small turn, but it's a path forward for them to start to reopen. And hopefully in the coming weeks, again, as we have more of our population vaccinated, we can continue to open them up more broadly. But the discussion really, you know, we talk about all the sectors. We have a variety of other sectors that are that are still in a posture of being, you know, restricted to 25% or 50% occupancy. And we know that that is is something that makes it difficult for them to deliver their service or make their product. And we continue to try to find safe ways to get them open. And as you heard Rebecca say earlier, we'll have a plan rolling out in the next couple weeks, inside the next couple weeks, that will hopefully show people how we plan to safely get, you know, more broadly open and let people move around a little bit more. Thanks. Thank you. Lisa, this is to share some additional context. Additional factors in under consideration, Dr. Levine might be able to speak to this as well would be the level of vaccination among the vulnerable populations, as well as recognizing that this is this is not even a return to the level that these establishments were open in October. It's actually even more strict than what they were open in October. So that's important context as well. But I don't know if Dr. Levine can speak to the vaccination levels. Yeah, and certainly for the social clubs aspect, with an older population attending many of the functions there, and the way over 80% uptake of vaccine in those populations, it only makes sense to allow them to be able to enjoy some of the privileges that were just outlined by Secretary Curley in terms of attending those again. Okay, thank you. Hi, thanks for taking my question. So I didn't actually, I couldn't hear Calvin's question and maybe he asked this, but I'm, do you guys know any more about why the northeast is rising slightly? I mean, I keep hearing theories that maybe Vermonters don't have some sort of immunity that other states might have acquired because so many people here haven't been catching it. What do you know about what's going on in the northeast at large? Yeah, thanks for that question, Ms. Dr. Levine, that certainly out of every northeast state, Vermont is the one that would stand out with the least natural immunity to COVID. You know, we're talking like 5%, whereas there are other states in the country where you're talking over 25% of the population might have natural immunity. I don't want to say that that's the reason that the entire northeast is having an increase though. I see some of this as, I hate to use the word cyclic, but somewhat cyclic in the way this virus has behaved, where it sort of came into the northeast in a big way, left the northeast, and then all of a sudden we saw over the summer, the south and the west. And then as the summer progressed into the fall, it was the Midwest. It seems to sort of surge in places and then diminish. And then if you give it enough time without a vaccine yet in a population that's not immune, it repeats the cycle. Commissioner Pichett, do you have anything to add to that? So, and the only thing I'd add is, you know, when you look at the regional data, then the Midwest and the northeast are the regions that are increasing the west and the south, that the regions that are seeing their cases continue to decrease. So, if you think about the weather in those locations, certainly the weather has been, you know, sort of much more seasonal out west, down south, easier to get outside, easier to be safe. The northeast has been a little colder until recently. Some states have suggested that as more and more of the vaccine has been delivered, and people are taking it, that, you know, folks are starting to put the pandemic behind them younger folks, even though the threat is still real of contracting COVID for yourself. So maybe a little bit of, you know, of an attitude of the, you know, thinking that you don't need to be on guard as much as causing cases to increase in parts of the region. So, you know, I don't think there's any one theory that explains it, but when you think about what I said and what Dr. Levine said, I think it helps account for it a bit. All right. Thanks. I have another question too. I'm wondering what's happening in the northeast kingdom in terms of people deciding to get the vaccination. It sounds like Derby Elementary and Derby Junior High are closed because of a COVID outbreak. This week, so it sounds like, you know, cases are still a problem in the northeast kingdom. I'm just wondering how have your, you guys added some clinics to get people to get their shot? Are they, are people doing that? Secretary Smith will answer that, Ann. We've been concentrating, Ann, on Essex County. There have been some cases going up there, just as a reminder, a few cases can show a fairly significant spike because of the small population up there. But we did a week ago, just a week ago, Thursday, I think it was, that we met with local and state officials in the Orleans and, well, the Essex area to see what we could do to sort of help bring up the vaccination levels in those, in that county. And what we started is putting up road signs to advertise some of the clinics that are going to be up there. We're looking at maybe adding clinics as well, as well as looking at the New Hampshire side, especially in Colbrook, and see if we can partner with information sharing in terms of their ability, because a lot of people go over to Colbrook from Canaan for primary care, and maybe working with their primary care and their clinics over there in order to provide information for clinics in Vermont. So we're looking at a wide range of options up there to try to bring up the vaccination level. We're just going to have to see in the next few weeks whether those strategies work. Thanks. I just have one more question, and this one is about young people. I know that nobody has had the experience yet with young people in this particular vaccination to know exactly how they feel about it. But that said, in general, what have you heard about for other states that didn't have the same age banding that Vermont has? Like, what works in getting younger people who have heard that it's just not as dangerous for them to have COVID? What works in getting them to get the vaccine? And what kind of strategies, other than advertising on social media, are you guys going to employ? Yeah, we have a communications strategy, and we'll take our cues from what people are telling us. We're putting that together right now, actually, in terms of those that are 16 to 29, and making sure that they understand what sort of drivers will incent them to go and have a vaccine. I think you'll start seeing that. Obviously, we're going to concentrate heavily on social media, because that age group is social media savvy, so we're going to be concentrating on social media. But using their friends to help them understand why it's important to get vaccinated, us telling them what to do is not going to work. We have to have their friends telling them why it's important, and I think you'll see a strategy that relies on peers talking to peers about getting vaccinated. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I just got off the phone with fellow governors in the White House for our weekly call, and here's some of what we heard. First, we had an update from Dr. Fauci on a few items. He discussed that they're watching Europe closely as they're seeing a rise in cases. But he also said it's important to note how much better we're doing here in the US on vaccinations than they are. He also discussed the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has made some news over the last few weeks. And last night, they indicated they were going to apply for emergency use authorization from the FDA. Dr. Fauci believes that they will eventually be granted authorization, and he also stated that he feels himself, and it will go through a rigorous process with the FDA, but he thought it was a safe and effective vaccine. And he talked specifically about some of the clotting issues and so forth, but he was convinced that it was safe from his perspective. He also talked about where things are for vaccination of children looking ahead. He thought we should expect all high school students will be eligible this fall and young children by the first part of next year. So they're doing trials at this point in time and said that's going well, and he fully expects that high school students by the time they go back to school in the fall will be able to be vaccinated. Next, we received an update on supply. For Pfizer, we heard there will be a one time dose increase. They first told us that there was going to be flat for this week, as they had prepared us for last week. But then they said that they had found some extra doses, and they would increase by a million doses for this next week. That was for Pfizer. And that will mean a thousand doses for Vermont. Then on Johnson and Johnson this week, they're distributing an additional 1.6 million doses. So that means 1,600 for Vermont. And then they talked about the federal pharmacy program, and they will also see a one time, one time increase of about a million doses of the Pfizer, Moderna, which would mean about a thousand doses for Vermont, but also a 1.5 million increase of doses for Johnson and Johnson. So all told, that would be 2,500 for the pharmacies, 2,500 doses for Vermont. So when you add that all up, again, with one time and the increase in supply, especially with Johnson and Johnson, which we haven't seen since the beginning, that's about 5,000 more doses this week than last week. So that's great news for us. When you add it all up, I believe, if I have my math right, then maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong. But I think that means we'll be at like 23,000 doses this week. But I'll let one of you figure that out and correct me. So again, this is on top of what we heard last week, so which has gave us the confidence we needed to roll out our vaccine timeline. As a reminder, and as Secretary Smith said again, every Vermonter over the age of 16 will be eligible to sign up by April 19th with the next age ban, 60 plus opening this Thursday. And I myself am looking forward to signing up because I believe every Vermonter should sign up when they're eligible. So I'll be doing so myself when when able to do so on Thursday. As I said last week in the next couple of weeks as vaccinations ramp up, I'll be able to outline our plan with timelines and details that will allow us to to work towards normalcy. But it's important to remember, even with the vaccines and the number of vaccines were able to put them in the the arms of Vermonters, this virus isn't going away and will be likely will likely be with us for a while. So we should be prepared for that. At the same time, we're already seeing the positive impact of the vaccines with deaths and hospitalizations falling. Again, our top priority since the beginning has been to maintain the capacity of our hospitals and limiting deaths. And because for your hard work, we have the fewest number of deaths in the entire country. So over the next several weeks as we get shots in arms and there's more mobility, please remember it's still really, really important to remain vigilant and follow the health guidance. Because if we do, we're going to be in a far more better position to have a normal summer. So that's something to look forward to, but we all have to do our part with that. We'll get back to questions. Before we go to our next question, or just again a reminder, there's still 19 folks left in the queue, even though we've already gotten through a few. Joe, garden chronicle? Good morning. My question, I heard what Dr. Levine said about the best vaccine being the one you can get. Nevertheless, we got a question from a reader who is caring for an elderly woman who has one lung and this person has had bad experience with vaccine in the past and is wondering when it might be possible to have the choice of a vaccine so she can get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine and avoid what she thinks might be a potentially difficult reaction. And if I could just comment on the Johnson and Johnson, again, they did tell us during the call that we should expect another boost of Johnson and Johnson by the end of the month. So that's more good news for us. Dr. Levine. With that good news and knowledge that April will not be less for Johnson and Johnson, there's going to be a point in April, and I'm not going to set that date, that there will be really an option for people to get the vaccine that they want. And if there are people that have a higher priority because they can't get any other vaccine, we certainly need to take that into account. And we've had discussions actually is recently as a few hours ago regarding that. So the governor has stated at previous press conference that he believes that when there's the opportunity for choice, we should allow Vermonters to have some choice so that when they register, they know exactly what is available where and on the date that they want to sign up for. So that's what the future looks like, but I can't promise you the date. I think I can promise that it could be in the month of April. Just can't tell you exactly when. Another reader question that's very different. This gentleman noted that normally a person who buys or sells a car in order to buy a new one has a grace period of 60 days in selling it and transferring it to the new vehicle. He said currently because of COVID, it is hard to find new vehicles. In his case, it's a recreational vehicle. And he wonders whether there's any thought to adjusting this tax rule to take that into consideration. This may be the first time that Dr. Levine has referred a question to me. More in my bailiwick. We hadn't considered that, but I understand the timeline and taking credit for something you sell against your future tax obligations. So I'll do this. We'll take it back and see if there's been any concern about that. And we may address it or we may not, but I'll certainly take it back to the folks at Motor Vehicle to see if there's been any other concern about that. Thank you. Can't expect more than that. I appreciate it. Good morning. Can you hear me? We can. Can you hear me? Yes. I got two quick questions. The first one, Governor, I don't know if you have this discussion with down in Washington, but if and when a decision is made to open up the border with Canada, will the federal government require proof of vaccination for people visiting down from Canada? Is that a federal decision or is that a decision that would be made by you? You know, interesting you brought that up. I did ask that question last week, I believe, with the White House and didn't get a solid answer at all on that because I was we were questioning whether it's going to be a federal requirement. I would imagine that both the Canadian government and the US government would have some sort of provision for having a vaccine passport of some sort. But I but I do believe it's going to be continue to be a while before the border is opened up. We do not have any provision at that at this point in time to have input in that discussion. But but I look forward to to offering our opinion on that and we'll continue to watch the data in Quebec and the region, you know, even Ontario to see what would work best for Vermont. But but again, at this point in time, there's no there's no talk or there's nothing solid that I can report on. Okay, and the other question is on the three foot rule. So as I heard that it was talked about being applied in the school system, is that three foot rule actually applied across the board? For example, if you if you're opening up bars and you have people sitting up by school, do they have that three foot requirement and it does also include people who are vaccinated? I think the CDC just came out with that that determination and it just pertained to schools, not to other establishments. Okay, thank you. And I think we're going to camera now at this point. Sorry about that. Okay, can you hear me? We can. So I actually wanted to ask because we've heard that Amtrak have held some trainings up this way. And I think I've actually seen the train in the station here. Do you know or have you heard any updates on whether or not the Amtrak, Vermont are is going to get back up and running? Yeah, we've had some we've had some preliminary discussions with Amtrak on this. And we had said that we are looking forward to them coming back and being fully operational. They had told us it's both the Vermonner and the Ethan Allen will be up and going in the next couple of months. We just don't know exactly what it's going to be. They do have to train. They have a new new staff for that they have to continue to have. That's why you're seeing maybe some of the Amtrak trains running without passengers, but it's just a training timeline that is preventing us from going back to having any transit for the general public. So it's going to be a couple of months from what I understand. All right. And are there any health concerns when that does happen? Is there any specific guidance that the state is looking at? Well, again, you know, we have we have guidelines right now for public transit. I would imagine that they would mimic those the same things, probably masking up and so forth and trying to keep your distance. But also keep in mind two months from now will bring us much closer to summer. So we'll I'm anticipating as well with some of the public transit that the federal government will have some guidelines that they will impose. So we'll just have to wait and see. But but we'll consider that when when it comes to fruition, which again, we think is going to be in the next couple of months. Great. Thank you. Hi, I noticed the two new outbreaks at the long term care facilities, the one in Rutland and the one in St. Albans. If we've been vaccinating the staff and residents at high rate, why are we seeing these new outbreaks that can you explain maybe what causes those at a facility? Dr. Levine, I'm going to answer your question cat in generalities because I don't have insight into the specifics of the two facilities right now. But we do know that if you take 100 elderly people and vaccinate them all, there may be a few that could break through the vaccine, if you will, and not respond as effectively as others, whether it be related to the fact that the vaccine is not efficacious 100% of the time or because of the immune system of the person we're talking about. Generally, if that happens, it's still going to be a milder case, but it will still be a case. And any case in a long-term care facility is concerning regarding the word outbreak, obviously. We also know that the staff have had increasingly higher rates of vaccination as time has gone on. A number of them wanted to wait early on and then subsequently took the vaccine later in the process, but that's not at the same rate necessarily as the residents, which were over 90%. So there still may be staff, especially in parts of the state where there's a lot of virus active in the community who will, again, reflect what their community looks like by coming to work at a time when they have no symptoms, but they may still be potentially infectious with the virus. So that's kind of how it works. And so we will still see that. But the important point is it will not have the same impact on the facility. It's number one. It won't be spreading throughout the facility like we had seen at an unvaccinated time early in the pandemic. Number two, it will be much easier to isolate and quarantine appropriately and not necessarily have the impact beyond every person in that facility or even on some of the privileges that some of those people can enjoy, like visitation, etc. So as you saw on that table that was up on Commissioner Pechak's slides, the numbers are small in the facilities and there were a couple, there were no numbers because they're very small. So that's what we're going to see working towards the future, not going to see those huge numbers of people in a facility that are all impacted when the virus is introduced. For sure. Do we have documented cases yet of fully vaccinated people in Vermont getting COVID-19? And if not, is that something that people really should expect to hear about in the future as more people get vaccinated and as we go further along this process? Yes. So I believe at this point in time, and we just checked this morning, there are 25 cases that are people who had been fully vaccinated but still ended up with a positive COVID test, presumably for symptoms, but I don't have insight into all of that for COVID. So think about that, 25 cases and we've had 170,000 injections, 100 plus thousand fully vaccinated people, very small and none of these 25 were hospitalized or led to death. That's good to hear. Thank you. As well, and just to remind everyone, if you're on a two-dose regiment after your first dose, it's going to be another six weeks before you reach full efficacy and that considers you have the second dose four weeks later. So again, after your second dose, it's still a couple of weeks to wait. So not everyone has reached full efficacy at this point in time, even those maybe staff members in the long-term care facilities. So we'll just have to wait and see. 22. Hi, this is a question for Governor Scott and Dr. Levine. I'm kind of building off of something you mentioned earlier, Dr. Levine, which is the importance of young people protecting themselves from this virus at this stage of the game, if you will. So positivity rates at colleges are still very low, but there was a little bit of an uptick at the University of Vermont. A lot of these students off campus and a lot of them not following safety guidance. And, you know, we're seeing seen down in Florida, spring break big crowds without math. Are you concerned that that psychology is impacting Vermont college students at all? And then, you know, as we get towards bars opening on Wednesday, Governor Scott, what is your message to these college students to, you know, they see the nice weather. They feel that we're in the home stretch, but still obviously the time that people need to be taking proper precautions. What's your message to them? Yeah. Well, first of all, you're not invincible. You can get the virus regardless of your age, and you may feel like you're invincible, but you're not. So again, make taking those precautions to make sure that you're not spreading the virus to someone who's more vulnerable than you are is really important. Wearing a mask is going to be important over the next at least the next two or three months until we get everyone fully vaccinated that who wants to be vaccinated. So we're going to lay out that timeline. But but again, as we keep reinforcing every single week, it's important for everyone to follow the guidelines remain vigilant. And we'll get through this a lot quicker, a lot safer, and have a far more normal summer if we do so. Dr. Levine, just one or two comments to add. We've seen a number of very small numbers of cases or outbreaks at a variety of colleges. They've all quieted down very, very quickly. The University of Vermont, as you point out, has had additional cases. I do know that on campus cases were decreasing. As of last week, I have to get more information that's up to date for this week. But the fact of the matter is the students were doing a great job of trying to make sure that their lives on campus could improve and they wouldn't be in situations of quarantine or becoming a case and being isolated. For the off campus students, I want to just change the tone of your question a tiny bit because it implied that they're acting like those pictures in Florida. And actually, again, as of last week, we were not finding that cases that were off campus were people who were having parties or were gathering. But they were more, again, reflecting what was going on in Chittenden County and in Burlington, particularly with regard to active cases being prevalent and needing to make sure that you do everything you can to protect yourself from that. But certainly, we don't have evidence they were engaging in wild behavior. And certainly, as you know, bars were not open at that time. So I'll just leave it at that. Thank you. Thank you. Governor, I wondered if you had any comment on the Vermont rail systems opposition to the CSX purchase plan for a piece of rail track about 70 miles that goes from the Massachusetts border to White River Junction? I actually don't have much to offer on that. Maybe a better question for the Secretary of Transportation, Secretary Flynn. I don't think he's on at this point in time, but I will point him in your direction so that he can comment on that. Okay, thank you. My other question was, what is your current disposition on House Bill 175, the 10 cent redemption increase in expansion to other containers beyond carbonated ones? Yeah, my feeling has been I'm not in favor of the expansion of the bottle bill. And I think that what we need to do is contain what we have right now and not expand it and complicate the system. And again, this is just my perspective, but I believe we should be working towards more recycling. And that would include all the other types and push that. So yeah, I'm not I'm not looking forward to having any expansion of that of that system. Okay, thanks very much. Thank you, Rebecca. Good afternoon, Governor. I've had numerous parents, players, coaches, even some community members reach out from well, quite frankly, quite frankly all over the state, but mostly the northern counties, Franklin Orleans, Caledonian wondering about how the state's handling the pandemic and how that's affecting the Essex High School championship game tomorrow with BFA. It seems that the health department is moving heaven and earth to make sure that the Essex team can play a Chenin County team when, you know, other teams in the northern part of the air in the northern part of the state didn't have that same treatment. You know, it seems like the health department is going to try to turn around PCR tests in a few hours on the wealth tomorrow on Wednesday. But it doesn't seem like that's being done for the general public. What sort of kind of wondering what sort of bargain was struck between Essex and the health department to get a sweetheart game like that and why that's not being offered to the general public? Yeah, a lot of opinion in that question, but I'll see if I can get to it. I'm not sure that we're what we're doing. This is the first I've heard of it. I did see on one of the news programs this morning early that they were wanting to make sure that Essex was safe and that that they had all negative tests before they went into any playoff situation. So I think it's almost the opposite from my perspective just looking from the outside in. It's almost just the opposite. They want to make sure that there are no positive cases and if there's even a single positive case, they're not playing. But but I might refer to Dr. Levine on this. I've been reassured that this is not a health department decision and this has nothing to do with the health department offering favoritism or anything of that sort. I do believe there's a hospital involved that has offered to accomplish the testing and that's all I can say at this point in time. We obviously don't change our isolation or quarantine guidance based on a game coming up just like the professional sports community doesn't do the same either. We stick by our guidance that we provide all of these teams at the time cases come up. So we are not in our lab doing special testing to facilitate one team getting to play another and not applying the same standard across the state. So as the governor implied, there was a lot of opinion in the question and I'm sure all of our sources are very different and so that generates other opinions about what's being done or not being done. But there's certainly no state of Vermont decision here to help facilitate playoffs in one place and not another. The VPA has press release yesterday said that they met with health department officials. Were you not part of that meeting, Dr. Levine? I was not with the VPA meeting but we do have representatives that do attend that. Okay. You know the question it still arises that you know a few months ago when berry tests were damaged the governor stood up there he said we are going to turn around these replacement tests as soon as possible and yet it was days later. It looks like on March 8th there was testing at Northern State Correctional Center to try to contain an outbreak and yet it was four days later before those tests were announced. So presumably it took at least three days to get the results back. The same happened on March 11th at Northern State Correctional Center. So there's still you know a lot of questions to be asked about a Chittin County school whether they have the right connections with a hospital or what's going on that the state is treated you know presumably high school students differently even then in person now for people. Yeah so we will have to get to the bottom of what you're talking about with the schools and make sure there's a cohesive story that we can all tell with regard to the correctional facilities. Those do actually get processed same day at the state health department lab as part of outbreak management. That's different than their surveillance testing that may go on at those places but in terms of outbreak management just like when a nursing home in a state has a problem we do facilitate getting very rapid turnaround on those results for management of an active outbreak in a vulnerable population. Can possibly Secretary Smith answer why it would take three to four days to publicly announce what testing is in these correctional centers that are having outbreaks you're trying to contain if those tests are actually being conducted same day. Why isn't the public being notified same day or at least the next day? We have several avenues that we do depending on where we're going for testing. We have the Broad Institute which we use in Massachusetts. We have the state lab which we do and we have major outbreaks. You know I it's anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to 36 hours and then the department gets a press release out as soon as possible right after that. I don't see any delays here on what we're trying to do to inform the public. In fact we try to over communicate more than under communicate in terms of what we're seeing in those facilities. For example we had three cases the other day. We got a press release out right away in terms of those three cases. So you know we're trying to be as transparent as possible as quick as possible. We want to be accurate when there were so many cases in that facility. We wanted to make sure that we were accurate and double count and make sure that there was accuracy in our press release. But I don't see the delay that you're seeing or any attempt to sort of hide anything from the public. And real quickly if you for clarification how long does it take for a same day PCR test to turn around if somebody takes the test at 8 a.m. for instance? Yeah we don't get them until here's here's how it works Greg. We take the test in the morning or the afternoon. If there's a if there are a lot of tests it takes all day to get the tests done. They go into the lab and then sort of the next day it gets done and probably about mid-afternoon it comes in. Then it has to be analyzed. It has to be looked at. It has to be make sure that we got the correct numbers and everything like that. That takes maybe another six hours or so three to six hours. And that's just the most rapid way of going to the state lab. There are other lab reports depending on how busy the state lab is and where we are that will go to the Broad Institute down in Massachusetts. They have a quick turn around times but I would suggest that that's basically the same sort of procedure maybe a 12 hour hour difference as we move forward. Again we want those tests as quickly as you do and we try to get the information out as quickly as possible. Okay maybe some follow-ups on that but for time purposes I guess I'll call it with. Good afternoon. We've heard from readers seeking clarification on children having to quarantine after traveling with their vaccinated parents. Some states like Massachusetts consider children under 10 to have the same vaccine status as their parents. Since children currently can't get vaccines would Vermont consider clarifying its policy to something similar? I'm going to refer to Dr. Levine on this. We will be putting out new guidance as I said within the next couple of weeks so I'm not sure if that will be part of it or not but this is about children under 10. Dr. Levine? That question has come up and that's going to be under discussion in our restart team actually because it does have to do with travel guidance as the governor just pointed out travel guidance is an underactive discussion and is going to be part of what the future holds in terms of further announcements during these press conferences so it doesn't mean we'll go to what Massachusetts is doing but we're seriously looking at those kinds of options. Thank you that's it for me. Hi Secretary Smith I was wondering if you could update us on the on the new product correctional facility what's happening up there and and also on your your two theories on how the transmission might have occurred. First of all Tim what are you trying to do give me in trouble here um let me uh oh I couldn't I couldn't do that. Let me give you an update first on um what we have a system wide and break it down for you in terms of positives in department of corrections. We have seven staff members today that are positive two in northern three in northeast that is St. John'sbury northwest St. Albans is one and Newport probation and parole is one. We have 22 inmates that are positive today um northern has 21 and southern um I mentioned this one in quarantine uh has has won so that's the update um we have one hospital still hospitalized up in Newport uh condition remains stable and O2 levels look fine um no fever from what I was told earlier this morning. Um let me go to your second question you know when we walk in here um oftentimes you know what I try to do when I walk up to this podium is give you as much information as I possibly can and when I walk in here sometimes it's breaking for example when we had a outbreak in Rutland and a long-term care facility it was breaking and I came up to this microphone and told you about that when we were walking in one time. I told you about the fact that um we had a problem with the the uh the refrigeration system in Springfield hospital not knowing what the outcome would be and the and last week I said we were pursuing uh working theories on various things because I wanted to be transparent and and uh open on that in terms of where we were looking at in terms of possible transmission at uh at at Newport and I said you know there are two working theories and I said again that I don't know if either one is correct um but we were working on two theories whether the first theory was that and the most likely theory is that it came in from the outside through a correctional officer I said another working theory is that it's being transmitted from mouth to mouth with medication um and doing that I didn't say that was the correct way I said it was a theory and a working theory I said it could be incorrect I emphasize those as it as we move forward but I was being honest in terms of what we're looking at in various uh in various avenues and I'll continue to be that way uh as I move forward obviously there are people that feel very strongly that we shouldn't be looking at that theory and that's they have their opinion I was just expressing what we were doing and and and looking at the various avenues out there and again I cautioned everyone about this that this could be incorrect as we were putting out there but I wanted to make sure that I was open and honest and telling you what we were looking at in terms of possibility in Newport so uh that's what I did on Friday and um you know there's been some reaction to that the other thing um Mike if I can um someone had mentioned to me about transferring a um vaccination appointment because they got moved up as you had mentioned earlier uh in your discussion um got moved up to go to a pharmacy from the the state site and they were wondering if they could transfer for the previous um vaccination appointment to somebody else and I think I know the answer but it it'd be better coming from you yeah the answer is no um we need people to attest to their health conditions we need them to register because there's a series of questions uh that they have to answer so the answer is no um the good thing is as we start getting into April um and right now frankly um we have a lot of vaccination appointments for those that we're opening up on the age groups with so um you know if this person you don't need to transfer you just need to go on and register and make an appointment all right great thanks you know medically assisted therapy being a cause of transmission how are you planning to investigate that because it seems like you know something that would be kind of difficult to get real clarification on particularly with you know the potential for kind of retribution or or consequences for the inmates um for speaking openly about it secretary Smith you know I don't know if we'll ever get confirmation on it frankly um but it is a theory that we're looking into um and that we have looked into and I don't know if we'll ever get confirmation on it frankly I don't know if we'll ever get confirmation on how it came into the facility even if it came in through a different method on it um we are just pursuing different ways and trying to learn from this experience as we move forward the the good thing is what we've learned in this pandemic is that if you cohort and do it correctly um you can try to contain this virus and and they have done that up in northwest it may not seem it because of the number of cases but they they have cohorted um those that were exposed and those that were that did have the virus to try to contain it and they've been somewhat successful in doing that most of the new cases are well all the new cases that I know about are coming out of that um one pod that has those people that are positive and or had to have close contact so I I think you know there are things we're learning there are always things that we can learn as we move forward I don't know Erin if we'll ever be able to discover how that came in we're just looking at various theories various possibilities okay thank you um I also have a question uh following up on the comments on guidance for young people beyond travel restrictions for getting also questions from adults on what guidelines could still be in place for kids um you know even after adults are vaccinated in the summer you know people want to know is it okay to send my be okay to send my kid to grandma um you know will my kids be able to play on the street with their friends kind of things like that are a better kind of beyond you know the actual you know restrictions that are in place in schools and summer programs so it would be great to get some perspectives on what guidelines might be in place for kids in those situations yes hi Dr. Levine so you know kind of by definition any grandparent-grandchild interaction is going to be between a hopefully vaccinated grandparent uh and a unfortunately unvaccinated grandchild because they're not yet eligible for the vaccine until those trials are done and we feel those are fine and those have been permissible uh through the guidance to date and should continue again that's one household of grandchildren with the grandparent it's not grandchildren from three different households all gathering together at the same time but still there's no reason why that can't occur um in that kind of gathering and so you know we've already put out guidelines regarding unvaccinated with uh vaccinated unvaccinated with unvaccinated vaccinated with vaccinated so these all continue to hold for the population you're concerned about and they will I'm sure be updated over the ensuing weeks to months but that is how they are right now at this point in time so can kids anticipate looking forward to kind of casually hanging out with their friends this summer will there still kind of be any restrictions in place on that like you know I don't know if you need to wear a mask so the wearing of the mask is certainly going to be present until the summer and we'll know more after July about about that aspect but yes in terms of kids being able to congregate well congregate with kids there will be evolving guidance but I can't tell you yet um when and how that will evolve but there will be evolving guidance and the governor's going to be speaking to a lot of these points uh over the next several weeks in terms of um giving you a little bit of a preview if you will okay and just to clarify you know who is the one who makes the decision about the kid getting the vaccine like right now you know 16 year olds are eligible under certain conditions if the parent is close to the kid getting the vaccine but the kid wants it what happens in that situation can the kids still get the vaccine to a certain age yeah like 16 years yeah so for 16 and 17 year olds I believe the parents would weigh in at a higher level until the person turns 18 years of age is that what you're asking yeah like can does the kid need permission from their parents to get the vaccine I think there's you know what it will sound to I think they do need permission yes until the age of 18 okay okay thank you Rebecca uh governor um we're hearing from restaurant and bar owners that are looking to reopen uh that it's uh very difficult to get people to return to work reason to begin work because of the lucrative unemployment benefits and supplemental pay being offered um and today I spoke to another owner this one in Chittenden County shopping at the bit to reopen but says kitchen staffers including cooks are saying they rather stay out of work and draw the free money and of course with beautiful weather coming is going to be less and less incentive to go to work it's it's easier to stay home and get 37,000 a year or so tax-free and maybe some other state benefit and this is not to deny anybody that's worthy but I see people that are gaming the system if you will so governor what in you and the state do to help these needy businesses build these vacancies and encourage people to return to work and not just a message or a snappy slogan but employers want to know how they can get the people working the economy running and one suggestion they offered was if people are offered a job or their old job and refuse it should unemployment be ending for those people that refuse a job yeah there'll be a search work search requirement in the near future as soon as we are able to vaccinate more of our monitors I think that then there's no reason they can't go back to work I mean some from my point of view until we get to a point where we have child care provided and we have an opportunity for people to be vaccinated it's difficult because every situation is different to force them back to work but it's not going to be long again we are at a point where we're going to be on the 19th offering everyone over the age of 16 the opportunity to sign up for a vaccine and like I said I feel by the 4th of July we'll be back to normal so everything should be back to to normal in a work-related setting so I'm we will we will be providing for that work search requirement in the not too near future or not too distant future I think some of the employers especially next week or this week trying to open up you know can't wait necessarily till July 4th or later I mean the tourist season is coming up as you know the island was hit hard very hard last year with all the closings and people need a sense that they can get employees in there to do the work yeah no I understand and and I just want to remind everyone that pre-pandemic we had some workforce challenges on our hands we had a 2.2 percent unemployment rate and we had more jobs and we had workers to fill them and this is what's going to happen you know after the pandemic as well so we're going to be faced with this that's why some of the the policies that we're trying to to move forward with trying to attract more people into the state and so forth are going to be crucial for us as we you know evolve from this pandemic and get back to some normalcy but unfortunately normalcy has been that we had some challenges in the workforce so this is just another reminder that it's still here and and I understand the situation that some of these businesses are in they've been waiting for quite some time to open back up and now they need employees to to get that make that happen so we'll do whatever we can to assist and and I would say you know we have 35 000 people unemployed at this point we'll continue to advocate for them if they can to go out go back to work and and hopefully we'll get through this in the very near future but if they had a job and they're refusing to come back to it get the state do something now rather than waiting until everybody gets back tonight yeah again every family's dynamic is different and why it might seem easy for us to say someone should go back to work if they don't if they're their kids aren't back into school for instance they're they're remote five days a week or a good portion of the of the week then there's childcare dilemmas that they face so everyone is faced with a different situation and I'm sensitive to that so again the further we can move along and get the vaccination process moving forward and getting getting people vaccinated and getting kids back in school and so forth I think I think this will all work but it's going to take a little time it's not a flip of the switch right thank you very much yeah thank you very much appreciate it Governor Commissioner Levine said some young people thinking about vaccination should consider the possible impact of long-term depilitating covid how many young romaners have contracted this and has anyone or is anyone now suffering from this long-term disability I don't have the answer that possibly dr. Levine does I'll answer the second question first there are definitely people suffering from this I know of a number that are at enrolled in a clinic at the University of Vermont Medical Center I also get communications from a variety of people detailing what their condition is I do not have a number for you for the first question on the number of young people who are in that group I doubt you'll get that number anywhere in the country even unfortunately we're not you know we have some small studies that have been published or will be published I know the NIH under dr. Fauci is actually talking about if not already conducting a study we in Vermont are working on getting a study off the ground because we really want this information but I can tell you that there are numbers of romaners I just can't quantitative for you in terms of a rate based on the number of people who've tested positive and how many end up with these symptoms or what the age breakdown is we just don't have that information yet okay thank you governor Essex county is the vaccine resistance county is also the only county that went for Donald Trump in November and many people who voted for him believe they have good reason to be skeptical about whatever their government and media is telling them do you see a connection between skepticism about government and the media and resistance to vaccination and so what would you tell them well again you know I fully appreciate the independent nature of those in the northeast kingdom I think this has been historic and what we need for them to understand is that this this vaccine is safe even former president trump has come out and said and supported people being vaccinated he said it's safe and it's a it's a good it's a good vaccine I think where is exact words so hopefully they will listen to him or anyone that they have faith in and get the vaccine because it truly will help them their families and get us back to normal but there's nothing I you know I we get up here every single or twice a week and talk about how the efficacy of this vaccine and this is the path to normalcy and more mobility and you know a better way of life so beyond that I think there's not much I can say to them but we'll continue to look for different approaches and hopefully they'll come around but it won't be by forcing it'll be from them wanting to receive the vaccine thank you governor I haven't spoke to you since before the passing of our friend Travis Roy last October just wanted to thank you for the kind word you have trapped it meant a lot to his family and friends well first of all you know he's he wasn't a native vermontor but we considered him a vermontor in every way and we certainly do miss him and I was inspired by his story and his words and enjoyed seeing and meeting him and talking with him on a regular basis we prepare for a post-covid economic recovery in vermont I'm wondering whether you've received any response from the state department on your request to increase the number of refugees allowed into the state we did receive a notice that they were very excited about us wanting to receive more refugees and basically it was a fairly short acknowledgement and that they would get back so I think we're on the radar screen and hopefully we've heard you know as I said before and in response to a previous question you know we have our challenges here in vermont and a number of different perspectives our demographics we have an older population stagnant population not a lot of diversity and and I believe that accepting of more refugees would help us in every regard so I'm looking forward to them coming forward and and bringing you know possibly more refugees into vermont and we'll we'll do our best to welcome them were there any numbers mentioned between both sides no nothing at this point just the acknowledgement that we would ask for a substantial increase last question on that is that there are you know many who believe Chris Loris lost the mayor's race in Rutland four years ago because he wanted to resettle refugees there is there any political political risk to what you're doing here are you getting any pushback to this move well there's always you know political risk with almost everything that I say and do but this is being done for the right reasons and I believe that I feel strongly that vermont needs more diversity and we need to do our part to welcome those from war-torn countries and bring them into to vermont is new citizens new americans possibly in in the future so I just think we have a moral obligation to to welcome them and and make them part of vermont because we certainly could use the help thank you rebecca I want to ask a question presumably a secretary's myth about something I've heard about from several people readers and friends in recent days one of those people referred to it as the first day glitch and it involves people who follow the state's advice logged on to the map my vaccine site set up an account in advance of scheduling a vaccination when they create the account they haven't yet reached the age ban who its vaccinations are available but when they do reach that age ban a few days few weeks later whatever they attempt to schedule an appointment on the web on the web and are not able to do so because the system doesn't recognize they've reached the age for the next for the next ban excuse me and several people have told me that it took a number of phone calls to resolve this problem in the meantime their access to a vaccine appointment was delayed much to their concern I'm wondering if you're aware of this so-called birth date glitch and if so if anything is planned to address it as we move to the 60 plus age ban and the other banding level beyond yeah thank you Tom for the question I wasn't aware of it happening on the state system I do recall that it did happen on a couple of the federal pharmacy on the federal pharmacy sites but let me take that back and make sure that when we open up on Thursday that doesn't happen obviously you know our first day numbers are pretty substantial in terms of the people who successfully navigate the site but let me let me make sure we don't have any glitches in in that regard but I haven't I haven't heard of that okay thanks very much for for checking into that Secretary Smith I appreciate it and that's that's it for me yes good afternoon thank you very much the heat map at the end of commissioner PCX presentation portrays a relatively sharp difference between the northern section of the state the rest of Vermont and I also note that there's quite a bit of overlap between those hotter counties and some of the counties that have the lagging vaccination rate just you know wondering is there is there potentially any connection between vaccination rates and and new cases at this point or is it much too soon to be able to see a trend in that and is there anything underlying the increase in cases in the northern sections of the state I might ask either commissioner Levine or commissioner P check to or both to answer yeah thank you very much for that question you're absolutely right I mean the northern part of the state certainly has a higher disease prevalence than even the central or southern part of the state as you can see on the heat map and and that's become more pronounced over the last couple of weeks you know the active case algorithm that we use here you know assumes that cases are basically you know still active for about 14 days so many of the cases are getting picked up in some parts of the northern part of the state are from the Newport prison outbreak certainly when it comes to Essex County the case are pretty small you know the the total number is around 20 I believe in terms of increases over the past couple of weeks so the number is pretty small and that can make the number go up and I think it's probably a little too early to say that the lack of vaccine uptake in those counties is causing the cases to go up as I said there some of them are smaller counties and when they have smaller differences they can go up pretty dramatically and we've seen that in the past as well but certainly something to keep a close eye on and and monitor as we go forward okay thank you excellent and a second question the latest K through 12 schools report shows the most recent seven days is is up relative to at least the last few weeks and I also note that the number of classes and even schools in the kingdom that shipped remote in the last few days I'm just wondering if there's anything happening within the school environments that that has caught the state's attention in terms of active or new cases especially during the first two to get more kids and I may ask Dr. Levine to comment but I think what he's going to say is a lot of it is because of the community they're in and this is part of you see increased numbers in the community and they evolve into increased cases in schools Dr. Levine and you've astutely picked up on the data that is true that this is a higher count not to say that the weeks preceding were so low that it's dramatically different but this is higher than it was in the preceding weeks I do think this is really just a continuation of the trend we've seen where our rate of decline in cases is not as brisk and going along with the northeast not as brisk as we'd like to see it it's leveled off and it's just as the governor predicted I would say a sign of what's going on in those communities for sure also with regard to your previous question on the you know vaccination I agree with Commissioner Pichek that it's too soon I also agree that even if it wasn't too soon it's too soon to actually look for correlations so trying to equate a certain vaccination rate with a certain new count rate is challenging on a broader population it's easier for us to show on those more narrow populations that are age determined because clearly we have such a high rate of vaccination in those parts of the population but anything younger it's very very challenging and most of the cases we're seeing even in the northern part of the state share the same lower age range that cases across the state are having now. Does this refer then back to some of your opening comments encouraging younger people to get the vaccine when they can and to still abide by the mitigation measures because because of this shift to lower cases and an increasing prevalence among those younger age yes absolutely and again though I was concerned and remain concerned about the post-acute COVID syndrome there are multiple other reasons as well again for a virus to be able to succeed in mutating to strains that might be more transmissible in a population it needs to be sustainable transmission for it for that to occur the virus doesn't mutate when it's not being passed from person to person so the less we can have of active cases in any age range the better for the entire state and the better for that return to a more normal time that we're all talking about over these next several months so for multiple reasons okay thanks everyone I wanted to ask again about the three-foot rule for schools we asked you Friday and the CDC had just come out with the guidance during the press conference and wanted to see whether you all had any other thoughts about it or have some time to think it over to see how that would apply to Vermont schools. Secretary French are you on yes good afternoon Governor yes thanks for the question we are in the process of revising our guidance we have started that process prior to the recent CDC announcement but certainly we're in the process of considering how that guidance will factor into our approach I know our team at the health department will be reviewing the CDC guidance as well as the studies that the CDC cited as part of the guidance so we're in the process of doing that and I think right now our guidance is on a trajectory being revised sometime remember by April 1 somewhere in that time frame excuse me okay thank you. Hi thank you Rebecca I have a question regarding vaccinations for college students do you have specific information as to whether out of state university students be eligible to schedule their vaccinations in Vermont within the 15th cross group? This is an ongoing conversation we're having internally it really you know a lot of it will depend on the supply from my standpoint I would want to make sure that we had vaccines available to anyone who wanted them even are those going to college when the time is appropriate but but it really does depend on the supply we'll continue with these conversations and we just have not made a decision at this point but we have some time because between now and April 19th we'll we'll make some determination but we'll want to get through that age band first. Yeah do you think you'll have a plan to administer those vaccinations or not before the conclusion of the spring term or no? I you know hard to say at this point okay because we're we're still depending on the supply and as I said earlier we received a little bit of good news but it's not enough to determine how long it's going to take for us to vaccinate the the rest of the population from this point forward so we'll just have to wait and see but we are contemplating that. All right thank you and then I had another question just given that there are 93 new positive cases covered on the UVM campus last week do you see the state taking any action on the university if cases continue to rise and is there a possibility that the university could shut down if cases continue to rise? I'll let Dr. Levine answer that but we do have a good working relationship with the university and and we are in contact when they have any type of increase in cases and they need any advice or help and we're always there to assist but they done they done a pretty good job thus far. You should probably ask us the same question on Friday because we generally meet with the university in terms of our health teams tomorrow and the university has been really quite good about taking the advice and guidance that we in the state health department have provided and moved forward they've also made some moves on their own that went beyond anything we recommended in terms of how to manage the outbreak and most importantly they have a set of contingency plans so you know things to do between what exists now and the word you mentioned you know shutting down the university which no one is really looking at at this point in time as a plan but there are other mitigating strategies that could be used in between their goal is to not get to those strategies and the hope is that again if the weather remains in a favorable way students will be in outdoor circumstances a lot more of the time and the opportunity to spread disease through gatherings within smaller indoor facilities will be lessened so we'll have more on that but as the governor pointed out our teams are in touch once a week for formal meeting and informally throughout the week and leadership in state government is several times a week in discussions with leadership at uvm great thank you so much one last time for howard with that thanks for tuning in we'll see you again on friday