 Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much for tuning in. We've got a lot to cover today, so we'll get right to it. First, as you know, Fermat continues to be a national and global leader in vaccinations. This is due to the hard work of hundreds of people, including volunteers, staff at AHS, Department of Health, public safety, EMS teams, the National Guard, local partners, businesses, and so many others. Most importantly, it's because Vermonters have stepped up to do the right thing. As a result, last week, we were able to move into Step 3 of the Vermont Forward Plan over two weeks ahead of schedule. We were also able to adopt the CDC's updated guidance for those who are vaccinated. And as I said on Tuesday, no state was in a better position to do so than Vermont. With every step we've taken during this long and difficult struggle, I've been inspired by Vermonters, their willingness to help one another and their communities. We're getting close to the end of this race. We're just a few more hurdles to overcome before we shift from emergency response to long-term recovery and normalcy. In early April, when we outlined how the Vermont Forward Plan would methodically ease restrictions and work our way back to normal, we were in a much different place than we are today. In just weeks, as our vaccination rate increased, cases fell about 75 percent. And more importantly, hospitalizations and deaths have reduced significantly. Why? Because vaccines work. And we're vaccinating faster than I think anyone imagined. We originally calculated that all restrictions could be lifted by the 4th of July based on projected vaccination rates. And because by then, anybody who wanted to be vaccinated could. And because Vermonters have answered the call, today I'm announcing an opportunity to eliminate all restrictions sooner than originally planned. Right now, we lead the nation with over 70 percent of the eligible population, those 12 and over, having received at least one dose of the vaccine. That's over 400,000 Vermonters. So here's my challenge to you. If we hit 80 percent, I'll lift any remaining restrictions and mandates that day. Admittedly, this would be an ambitious goal for most. And to be honest, most states won't come close to reaching it. But I believe Vermont can. We can show the country how it's done. To reach 80 percent, we'll need to vaccinate another 27,954 Vermonters. So if you're on the fence or haven't gotten around to making your appointment yet, now is the time. Because we have a chance to get back to normal faster, and it's never been easier to get vaccinated. To those who have already been vaccinated, you can still help. It could be as simple as offering someone a ride or helping them find the closest vaccination site or telling them your story as to why you got yours. Employers, you can help by offering an incentive or at least a few hours off to employees so they can get their vaccines or by asking us to bring the vaccine right to your doorstep, right to your work site, right to your job site. The state will do its part as well. As you've heard us say, we're bringing the vaccine to the people, whether it's Church Street, North Beach, pop-ups, and walk-in clinics from the Northeast Kingdom to Southern Vermont, job sites, colleges, and more. We're working to make it easy and as accessible as possible. Now, the people who can help us accelerate this timeline the most are those between the ages of 18 and 29 who've lagged behind in vaccination rates. I understand why some might not have felt the urgency yet, but now's your time to do the right thing. We're counting on you to help us lift restrictions early, including gathering sizes, masks, social distancing, the curfew at bars, restaurants, and social clubs, and the rest. Now is your time to lead us to the finish line. Now, to be clear, we'll be dropping all restrictions as planned by the 4th of July either way because at that point, every eligible person in Vermont who wants a vaccine will have had the opportunity to get one. To put this in perspective, right now, our seven-day average is about 2,500, which has dropped about 30% in the last week. So, for example, if from here on out we average 1,500 a day, we'll be able to lift remaining restrictions by June 8th. So let's keep our momentum going. Let's finish strong. Let's continue to show the nation and the world what this brave little state is capable of. With that, I'll now turn it over to Secretary French for our education update. Thank you, Governor. Good morning. Secretary Smith will provide a more detailed update on our vaccination program in general, but I thought I would make some comments on how the program is going for our school-aged children. The effort to vaccinate our students in the 12- to 18-age group is going very well. This week, we hosted 73 clinics and schools or community sites across the state targeted at this age group. Parent interest has been very good, and our pediatricians and healthcare providers have been enthusiastically offering their support. As we have seen throughout the pandemic, Vermonters believe in the importance of education. And as a community, we come together to ensure all our students can be successful. I want to speak directly to parents and guardians of students in this eligible age group. It's important for you and your student to get vaccinated. Dr. Levine often explores the safety and efficacy of vaccines from this podium. So I will merely reinforce what he has already said. We know these vaccines are safe for children, and we know they are very effective in preventing transmission of the virus and serious illness. Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 brings big benefits to Vermont kids. As of May, more than 4,000 Vermont kids have been tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. And that has had a huge impact on our kids, the families, childcare programs, and schools. Getting our kids vaccinated will keep them safe and healthy and will stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. Getting vaccinated also means more freedom, so kids can be kids. They can see their other vaccinated friends without worry, travel to visit family outside of Vermont, and skip the need to quarantine if they are ever found to be a close contact with someone with COVID-19. That's why it's important for this newly eligible age group to get vaccinated for their health, but also for the health of other students who can't yet get vaccinated. So protect your family members, friends, and neighbors by registering for your appointment today. And if you're in the 19 to 29 age group, I would especially ask you to step up and get vaccinated. Do your part to keep your younger siblings and friends safe from COVID-19. The Agency of Education will be asking schools to assist us in encouraging students and their communities to get vaccinated. In the coming days, we'll be providing resources and toolkits to our school districts to help them talk to their communities about the importance of vaccination. We are encouraging fun and innovative activities, bake sales, raffles, and other fun ways to celebrate folks coming out to get their shot. And we hope to distribute coupons for creamies to our school-based clinics next week. You might remember earlier in the year Dr. Leen confirmed creamies are very healthy and generally very good for you. We have been communicating with our schools to explain the new mask guidance. The CDC specifically exempted schools from this guidance so schools will continue to follow our safe and healthy school's guidance. I will point out that our guidance and the CDC's recommendations provide the necessary tools to safely operate schools for full in-person regardless of the vaccination status of students. The distancing requirements of our guidance can be a logistical barrier, but our schools can operate safely during this pandemic as they have demonstrated their ability to do so throughout the school year. We are advising school employees who do not work in schools like school district central office staff that they can follow the new Vermont guidance and if fully vaccinated are not required to wear masks when they're working in their offices. We have been working directly with districts to answer their questions and to assist them with specific questions as they come up. This is yet another moment of transition in our pandemic response, but we've worked through far more complex issues previously, so I'm very confident the school year will end on a high note and that the end of the pandemic is in sight. That concludes my comments and I'll turn it over to Secretary Smith. Thank you, Secretary French and good morning everyone. I wanna start out by highlighting that we have reached a significant milestone. More than 400,000 Vermonters have been vaccinated. That is 74.9% of the eligible population, but as the governor mentioned, we have another very important milestone in our sites now, which is to vaccinate 80% of eligible Vermonters to end the restrictions sooner. That means 80% of those 12 and above. We intend to achieve our goal by offering many convenient opportunities to get your shot, but we need those Vermonters who have not been vaccinated yet to step up and do their part. I will get to the strategy of how we will vaccinate at least 27,954 more Vermonters in just a few moments. But first, let's take a look at the overall progress. According to the CDC dashboard, 412,806 Vermonters have been vaccinated with at least one dose. Let me just go through the statistics because different people use different statistics. We are using those eligible Vermonters, 12 plus with at least one dose, and that's 79.9%. The President Biden uses 18 plus as his benchmark when he says he wants to have 70 plus by July 1st. We are at, if you use that number, 18 plus with at least one dose, that's 78.9%. And all Vermonters with at least one dose, 66.9, 66.2%. That includes Vermonters that aren't eligible to get the vaccine. Turning to those aged 12 to 15, more than 9,700, 12 to 15 year olds have made appointments. I want to remind everyone that consent is needed from a parent or guardian. You can sign up online at healthverma.gov slash my vaccine or you can call 855-722-7878 to make an appointment. If you avail yourself of the many walk-in appointments available around the state, and you are 12 to 17 years old, then you must be either accompanied by a parent or guardian that can give consent or have the completed consent form and checklist signed by a parent or guardian. Let's move on to our strategy. We are deploying a four-phase approach to reach out to Vermonters and attain the goal of vaccinating 80% of eligible population in Vermont. First, we will continue specific community events like North Beach yesterday and again today. And today in Lancaster, New Hampshire at the Fairgrounds, it's a drive-through clinic, which by the way comes with a free admission ticket to the fair, a pop-up clinic tomorrow on Church Street in Burlington, a vaccination event at Thunder Road on May 30th, followed by clinics at State Parks on June 12th. We also continue to organize barnstorming events. All of these events are for walk-ins. In addition to all of this, we have been reaching out to employers to host vaccine clinics at work sites. We are starting with the largest employers first. Included in this effort are restaurant, hospitality, and tourism workers. As you know, the first wave of vaccine clinics for restaurant, hospitality, and tourism workers has been completed and we're organizing for the next wave in this sector. Please go to accd.vermont.gov slash myvaccine or healthvermont.gov slash myvaccine. Again, accd.vermont.gov slash vaccine or healthvermont.gov slash myvaccine for the most up-to-date information. So as I said, we're starting out with bringing the vaccine to these various events and at work sites. The second part of our strategy, we will continue our walk-in strategy at all of our locations. This means you can walk in, whether it's at a pharmacy, healthcare provider, or a school and get a shot. Third, we will be distributing vaccine to primary care physicians. It will start with Moderna, but expand to Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson when sufficient supplies are available of those two vaccines. And lastly, a renewed effort of vulnerable populations, including the homeless, those on probation and parole under DOC supervision, as well as those that have declined in our incarcerated population. We're gonna revisit them and see if they have any concerns and we can address those concerns. As you can see, the strategy is designed to reach out to as many Vermonters as possible throughout the state at the places they work, play, or live. I urge Vermonters to take advantage of the opportunities we will provide to get vaccinated. Help protect yourself, your family members, and your fellow Vermonters. I wanna remind everyone that's listening and viewing that EMS and fire departments are kicking off their clinics at 31 locations across the state today through Sunday. The dates and locations are on the next three slides, I just wanna talk about these slides in a minute. Just wanna spend a few moments because I think it's important. This is a, I just want Vermonters to get a sense of just how large of an event this is going to be. They will have Johnson & Johnson vaccine available and thanks to the Vermont Dairy Farmers and the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets who because of their efforts, you can get a free, creamy coupon when you get a shot. Now how's that for an incentive? So just to start today, Deerfield Valley, EMS, Jacksonville, Vermont, Reedsboro Fire Department, Reedsboro, Vermont, Manchester Public Safety in Manchester, Vermont, if we can go to the next slide. These start getting quite numerous, Ludlow Fire Department, the Cavendish Fire Department, Long Trail Brewery and Bridgewater, Woodstock Union High School, doesn't say Woodstock Union but it is Woodstock Union High School, I graduated from there. Woodstock Union High School in Woodstock, Bennington EMS Station, the Eastern Asian Cuisine Restaurant in Rutland, Franklin Town Hall in Franklin, Thatcher Brook School in Waterbury, Maple Tree Place in Williston, Berry Town Elementary in Websterville in Berry, on Websterville Road in Berry, the Newport EMS Station in Newport, Vermont and Newport EMS will also be in Johnson, Vermont. If you could just go to the next slide please. Upper Valley Ambulance in Fairleigh, Bradford Fire Department in Bradford, Vermont, Wells River Fire Department in Wells River, Newbrook Fire Department in Newfane, Arlington Rescue Station in Arlington, Vermont, Ponyl Rescue Station in Ponyl, Vermont, Porky's Place in Backyard Barbecue in New Haven, Twin Union School Plainsville, Enersburg Public Safety, Orleans EMS Station in Orleans, Glover Town Green at Glover, Westmore North Beach, Norris Cotton Center in St. John'sbury and Morrisville Ambulance Station in Morris Town, Vermont. This would be on the 23rd. So from the 22nd to the 23rd, there's a lot of opportunities for Vermonters to get vaccinated and as I said, to have an opportunity to have a coupon for a creamy. And also don't forget our school-based clinics. Families and children aged 12 to 17 can go to any site across the state that offers the Pfizer vaccine. All sites will be open to the public. Parents, guardians and family members who are unvaccinated are also welcome to get their shot right along with their child. Again, we've scheduled over 100 clinics and 66 of them are in schools. You can find a list of the school-based clinics and make your appointments at healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine. You can also make an appointment on the Kinneys, Walgreens and CVS websites. As I mentioned on Tuesday, we are still operating larger vaccination clinics through our healthcare partners in the Vermont National Guard. But we are also, as you can see, transitioning to more localized and smaller settings to bring vaccines to Vermonters where they live and work. These may be smaller events, but just remember they are very important to achieve our goal of vaccinating 80% of eligible Vermonters. I will stop there, but there is no better time to get your shot. Please take advantage of the many opportunities we've presented to you today. You can sign up online at healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine, or you can call 855-722-7878 to make an appointment or you can simply walk in. This is our shot for Vermont to hit the goal of 80%. I will now turn it over to Dr. Levine for a health update. Thank you, Secretary Smith. I'll go off script for a second and just say that by the time this month is over, if you wanted to be vaccinated and couldn't be vaccinated, I can't believe it would be because there wasn't a location that would suit your needs. But if you find that there is yet something else that we haven't included, please call our call center and give your suggestion. As I mentioned on Tuesday, the data that matters the most to present to you is really vaccination. The figures show that 74.9% of Vermonters who are eligible to get vaccinated, aged 12 and up, have gotten at least one dose of vaccine. We know our state's doing incredibly well, largely thanks to the many Vermonters who stepped up to get vaccinated. We're ahead of other parts of the country and quickly surpassing our own goals to reopen gradually and safely. Now let's remember why this is so important. Vaccination is our most important tool to stop the virus's spread. And we're seeing how much of an impact it really has as we see cases, hospitalizations and deaths all decrease. These will probably be the last time I show these slides, but I'm showing them for the visual impact, not necessarily to give you a long list of numbers. But here we are with our total cases, just over 24,000 in our deaths at 255. To give you an idea of what our cases have done, we are now past these very high peaks coming down to an area where most of the cases are in the 30s or plus minus per night, which we have not seen since way back here in the pandemic. On the next slide, just to get a sense of the number as well as the frequency of people in Vermont succumbing to this virus, you can see that the deaths are now lower counts and farther in few between. And I believe we're at down to six deaths in the first 20 days of May that have been reported thus far. It may be a little hard to see on the camera, but the lighter gray is the amount of testing we're doing in Vermont. We have come down from these peaks, which had the college population included, and now the colleges, of course, are ending their semesters. But we are still at a very respectable level of testing within the state, so that when we talk about numbers like the percent positivity of tests, we're not fooling ourselves into thinking we've taken care of a problem. We actually have a good handle on it. Last time we looked, the difference between Vermont, which is leading the country in testing, and the state that had the lowest frequency of testing, the difference was about 25 fold in the number of tests done per day. And then finally, going along with that low percent positivity, almost an absence of symptoms of viral illness like COVID, COVID-like symptoms or flu-like symptoms in the state at this time, coming down from those peak areas where we were seeing abundant cases. And then the final slide is more symbolic. We have no outbreaks in long-term care facilities at this point in time, or to say not in other congregate living settings either, such as our correctional facilities, et cetera. Thank you. So clearly the theme is that the more people who are vaccinated, the fewer there are to transmit the virus to others, including to our kids who are too young to be vaccinated yet. This means we in Vermont can really suppress the virus, keeping it at such low levels, it will have far less impact on all of our lives. Just consider where we were more than a year ago when the spread of the virus that was quite easily transmissible from person to person required that we stay home to stay safe. Now, because we have highly effective vaccines and rising vaccination rates among Vermonters and are nearly on the other side of the pandemic, we can give the opposite guidance for those who are fully vaccinated. Go outside, you can take your mask off, and there's no need to physically distance. As they have throughout the history of vaccine preventable diseases from polio to the measles, with COVID-19, vaccines have made the difference between then and now. Not only is our state safer, but we'll be in a better position this fall and winter when we're back indoors again and other respiratory viruses begin to circulate, including possibly the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We also know variants of the virus are still circulating in the state and around the globe. They are not affecting us to a large degree, but as we know what this virus, things can change quickly. We simply don't know what's coming tomorrow, and the more people who get vaccinated now, the less we have to worry about it. So please join the more than 400,000 Vermonters who've been vaccinated so far. Your shot is waiting, and we will keep doing everything we can to get it to you. Every one of you who gets vaccinated moves us closer to the time of fewer restrictions when life will start to look more normal again. But I do acknowledge that we are now in a more of a transitional period, and for many of us we need to give some thought to what we do based on potential risks. As I've said before, vaccine works. If you're vaccinated, you're protected. You are at very low risk of getting the virus and of spreading the virus, and it means those who are not vaccinated, such as children, are also going to be less likely to come into contact with the virus, so they too are more protected. But I also know people are still navigating what they can do safely, whether it's with children or if they have a condition that weakens their immune system. I would urge you to think about your own circumstances, as you've been doing daily for over a year now. Are you outdoors? Is it crowded? Are you with people you know? What's the level of community transmission where you are? Well in Vermont, across our entire state, the level of community transmission is very low. This can help make choices for yourself and your family. Do what you're comfortable with, and in time it will get easier to live your life in the new normal. I wanna share a few thoughts on some topics that have come up here recently. The first is, I wanna mention what I will call a paradigm shift that we are undergoing in the way we vaccinate. Up to now, we and many of those in the press have focused on avoiding wastage at all costs. And we've maintained a very low wastage loss rate, which is currently 0.2%. And we should always strive to keep that number as low as possible. But as we eventually transition vaccination to the healthcare system and try to meet the remaining people who are not yet vaccinated where they are, we must do everything we can to get them vaccinated. And that might mean opening a new vial, even if not all the doses can be used right away. We need to seize the moment anytime someone comes to us for their shot. It may be that person's only chance to get vaccinated. We won't send them away without vaccine. We should still strive to make this a rare event in recognition of the fact that the rest of the world has such little vaccine it needs every possible dose they can get. And we're already seeing some positive news in helping us navigate these new waters. For instance, the Pfizer refrigeration longevity of the vaccine going from five days now to four weeks. New shipping sizes to allow for smaller batches. And hopefully in the future, more office-friendly numbers of doses per vial. To update you on another topic of interest, the FDA has now confirmed what I've said here previously. Antibody test results should not be used to evaluate your immunity status or protection from COVID-19, including after getting vaccinated. Antibody tests can play an important role in identifying individuals who may have been exposed to the virus. But as my own work group has advised, the current platforms should not be used to assess immunity. We hope there will at some time be a test that we could do used for this purpose as it would be very useful for people who are immunocompromised and may not fully be protected after vaccination. We will continue to monitor news about this. I do anticipate before the year ends we will have a valid and reliable test and we'll share that news when it's available. And lastly, a word about breakthrough cases in nursing homes and concerns of families for their loved ones and whether visitation may be postponed due to cases. A study and the most recent issue of the New England Journal of over 18,000 residents, 4,000 of whom were unvaccinated in 280 nursing homes in 21 states. Looked at vaccination rates and subsequent case rates. 70% of the residents were fully vaccinated. I might add that's a number far lower than what we have in Vermont. Using both PCR and antigen testing, the investigators found that after one dose of vaccine, 4.5% of residents did test positive for the virus. The majority of them were asymptomatic. But after two doses, the number came down to 0.3%. Even those who were not vaccinated benefited. Their rate of infection decreased from 4.3% to 0.3%. I look at this as yet another example of the real world effectiveness of these vaccines. And as the authors stated in their conclusion, our observation of a reduced incidence of infection among unvaccinated residents suggests that robust vaccine coverage among residents and staff, together with the continued use of face masks and other infection control measures is likely to afford protection for small numbers of unvaccinated residents living in congregate settings. So again, another real world example of the power of these vaccines in the settings where the most vulnerable live. I'll now turn it back to the governor. Thank you, Dr. Levine. We'll now open it up to questions. Starting with Calvin Cutler and WCAX. Thank you, governor. So I'm sure many people are probably relieved to hear this metric of our potential reopening date here, but I guess my question is, how will people get notified if and when that happens? I'm just thinking, you know, when the CDC put out their mask guidance a couple weeks ago, it caught a lot of people by surprise and businesses were left scrambling. So I guess how do we make sure that that doesn't really happen? Yeah, we're going to attempt to let everyone know on a daily basis where we stand. So if we know that we have 29,000, whatever vaccinations left to go at this point in time, we'll give you a countdown on a daily basis. So up to the media, as well as anyone else, we'll put it on social media and so forth and try to let people know. So they aren't surprised. Over the weekend, earlier this week, you vetoed Senate Bill 107, juvenile public records. I'm wondering if you can explain your rationale behind the veto. Yeah, you know, this wasn't criticism of the legislature. It became apparent to me that we're moving faster than the programs that we have in place to allow an older population to be treated as young adults. So in thinking, it was fairly stark when thinking about this, that we now will, in 2022, as described, a 20-year-old will be treated as a kid. And I don't believe that we've done enough collectively, the executive branch, judicial branch, legislative branch to prepare us for this moment. I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. We need to take a step back and reassess and make sure that we put the programs in place or we keep the age lower, at least at this point. So again, it was just a realization that I think we're going too fast on this at this point in time. And we wanna make sure that we have everything in place to do what we set out to do three years ago. From your view, I mean, what else needs to be done? What investments need to be made or what programs need to be created? Well, again, in housing and in situations and the programs needed to rehabilitate those, younger offenders, and so they don't all exist. And there's anecdotal situations where it might be encouraging some who are in trafficking illegal substances, drugs, and so forth to take on that role at a maybe 18, 19, and soon to be 20-year-olds that would go into a different court system. So again, we need to reflect on this, make sure that we go into this with our eyes wide open and make sure that we're contemplating all of that. Thank you. Steve Long, Campbell, reporting to you on the court. Governor, the numbers, the unemployment numbers have come out. It's looking a lot better, it seems in the service industry and some of those retail and a few other things. But the kind of blue-collar industrial portions of the economy still seem to be lagging or are actually decreasing in numbers of employed individuals. Again, I just want to remind everyone, we were in this situation pre-pandemic. I've talked about this a lot over the last four years and it's one of our biggest challenges. We have an older population, a demographic that's shifting older and we are losing our workforce. And that was a problem before the pandemic hit us. And this is, in some ways, the pandemic has exacerbated the situation so that we are facing what we're facing today. So again, we can't look at the unemployment numbers, we need to look at the employment numbers, the labor workforce, and that continues to be challenging us today. That's why we have to make the investments that looks like the legislature will go along with that if the budgets are passed today. But trying to make those investments in those areas where I think it will give us the best rate of return and attract more people into our state, which is what we desperately need to bolster the workforce. That include education and kind of retraining. Yeah, education, housing, broadband, trying to revitalize our downtowns, our rural areas of the state to build on the economy, get to become a brighter, more beautiful state than we already are to attract more people. We're the safest, healthiest state in the nation, but we can get healthier and safer and we can attract more people at the same time if we can have an economy that works for them. We have to have the jobs available as well. Have you looked at numbers-wise the support for reeducation of workforce and technical centers, VTC? Investing in career technical education is important. We need to bolster the trades. We've seen that that's an area that is really very lucrative at this point and is a worthwhile career. So we're looking at that. We have to work with our employers. Employers need to train and retrain as well so that we're all working together in the same direction, along with our higher education. So everything's connected. We just have to make sure that we're doing this in the most cost-effective way. You know if the legislature sort of supported that? I believe so, yes. I think we all, again, understand the problem. We may have different approaches on how to get there, but I think we all understand the problem. Thank you. Stuart Lentfeder, NBC5. Good morning about the legislature. Do you have a budget deal with them? Are you okay with the $150 million pension buy down? $150 million broadband bill? Yeah, again, we've been working with them over the last couple of weeks and I'm pleased with the direction they've been moving and it appears the budget that they've shook hands on and will be presenting to their bodies today or tonight, as well as something that we can support, barring anything unforeseen that we didn't see in the last minute details. The $150 million reserve for the pension, that isn't going to buy down the pensions unless there's structural changes from my perspective, but this is just put in reserve. That is acceptable. As well, when you look at the broadband and housing packages, we never wanted to spend it all in the first year. We just wanted to have a plan moving forward, kind of a blueprint as to what we laid out we wanted the legislature to agree to. It appears that the intent language that they put in the bill in a separate section spells that out and it falls right in line with what we're thinking. Maybe a little bit different in some of the buckets, but for the most part, that's all I asked for, and so they seem to have met that request. So again, I think this is something we can work with and I appreciate the legislature moving forward with us and working with us. All right, is there anything coming your way that you can't support? I don't know everything that is coming our way at this point. There are still some bills that could pass today in the waning hours of the legislature and we'll have to see. So no huge red flags at this point, but one never knows. And you'll be addressing each chamber tonight? Yes, whenever they adjourn. Whatever it is. One may adjourn this afternoon tonight or tomorrow. I'm just not sure, but we'll be ready. Yes. Thank you very much. All right, thank you. Lisa, the associate press. Yeah, thank you. I was wondering, Secretary Smith, how well attended have the latest walk-in clinics been like the one at North Beach? Are those 18, 29-year-olds showing up at all for those? We gotta remember, Lisa, that we've never planned for these to be the mass back sites that we've seen earlier in the pandemic. But at North Beach yesterday, and we're having another clinic today, it was 105 people were vaccinated there at North Beach. I will say this, we saw all demographics getting vaccinated at North Beach. We're most happy, of course, with the 18 to 29-year-olds there, but we have another clinic today. We'll see how it's going. But the report back to me, 105 vaccinated at North Beach across all demographics. Okay, thank you. And then I have a question for Commissioner Harrington. You mentioned earlier in the week that those technical issues with filing some unemployment claims over the weekend had been mostly resolved. Have all those issues been resolved at this point? Thanks for the question. Yes, our knowledge, they've all been resolved. There was one remaining issue that we were putting the finishing touches on with our development team and our contractor yesterday, and that went live or went into production yesterday, mid-afternoon. So we will also be communicating out today to any other claimant who were unable to file because of that last correction that needed to be made that they can do so. Over today, tomorrow, if they're in the PUA program, they've got some extra time to do that as well. But it was a smaller portion of the PUA population for that last change that needed to happen. Okay, any idea how many people that affected? I don't, this is the population where someone came into the PUA program very early on in the pandemic or through maybe a side door because they found another mechanism to come through either calling our call center where they were manually put into the PUA program. They may have bypassed one of the initial questions on the application that asked if you are an independent contractor or a self-employed individual. So it's certainly not the majority of the population because we know almost all filled out the complete online application. However, there was a smaller population where we manually had to put them in very early on. And so if that was the case and they didn't get asked that question early on, then we weren't able to automatically have them bypass the work search requirement for self-employed and independent contractors. So that's, we've just simply added the functionality to the application. When they file their weekly certification, they can select that they are an independent contractor or a self-employed individual. And that is under the COVID exemptions and then they'll bypass the work search. And we already know because we've seen some people who have already gone in as of yesterday and been able to do that without an issue. So we know that's up and working but it's a much smaller subset of the population. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Lisa Loomis, the value reporter. Good morning. Thanks for taking my call. Before I ask my question, Governor, I just want to say on behalf of the Vermont Press Association and many of them, thank you for the veto of F-105 that the bill would potentially use public transparency about serious crimes. The bill would have allowed criminal defendants up to the ages 20 to avoid public disclosures for a long list of serious crimes like DUI, fatal car crashes, domestic abuse, hate crimes, lewd conduct, embezzlement, and more. Your veto letter is very clear and thoughtful as to why the bill meets more consideration and that bigger societal issues have to be addressed here in Vermont. Thank you, we appreciate your attention to this matter. Thank you, Lisa. And my question is a data question for Commissioner Petschek. I see he's not on the list today. Perhaps someone can forward my question to him. I know that other states are beginning to monitor cell phone mobility data. And I'm curious if Vermont has any intention of providing updated cell phone mobility data for Vermonters as well as for those in the Northeast. We do have that, or we have been keeping track of that early on when we were doing our travel modeling. So I'm sure that we have that and we're keeping up with that. So I will make sure that Commissioner Petschek gets that and gets back to you. Great, thank you very much. That's it for me. Okay, thanks. Mike Donoghue, the Islanders. One question, Governor. Vermont continues to meet or be your timetable to return to normal. One reader is interested in the date on when state of Vermont government offices will be back to normal and full operation. And maybe related to that, are the state employees that were like on loan to like the Labor Department and others to answer phones and do things where there was some crunch time? Are they back to their old jobs and have full depth like at ANR, AOT or whatever? Is everybody back where they should be? And when will they be if they're not? I wouldn't say they're all back. In fact, I was, we were on the SEOC call this morning, the Emergency Operations Center call this morning and there were three from one department that were leaving the health department, as a matter of fact, and going back to their regular duties. So we're still seeing some reshuffling because we're transitioning out of this state of emergency ourselves. For the most part, I think everyone is back into their normal agencies and departments, but we still need help in certain areas. So we'll continue to do that as time allows and as the emergency continues to transition to normalcy. In terms of, you were wondering about when state offices would be back to I think being open that they are open. They have been since the beginning. We haven't really closed anything, but we've changed services. So if you're talking about more in-person, that we'll be transitioning back to some of that in-person at this point in time. But possibly if she's on, Secretary Young could talk about the email she sent out yesterday, I believe, to state employees. She may not be on. Okay, she's not on right now, Mike, but I can share that with you when we get back or I have her get in touch with you. Okay, yeah. And yeah, no, that'd be great. And if there was a way to figure out like how many people are not back at their jobs, I don't know if human resources or she would be able to figure out. Yeah, I mean, we have some just so that everyone understands we have some that are even at vaccination sites. So we want to continue to vaccinate and we've talked about this aggressive schedule here. So we're still using, we've broken down these silos, which is the silver lining of this pandemic and be able to use the state workforce in many different ways. So right now we need help in making sure that we're getting vaccines and arms for monitors. And so we're still using some of those people in different areas. So that's why we're not back to quite normal, but we'll try and get that information. I'm just not sure if we have it in one area or not, but we'll check it out and get back to you. Okay, and thank you. And thanks for the clarification. Yes, I knew state government was operating. I could have been a little clearer that what the question really was back to normalcy of that, not that people can walk in. Yeah, we may not ever, we've learned a lot during this pandemic and we may not be back to what some would assume to be normal. We've, we might be able to be more efficient in the way we do things. So it may be different, but it'll be back more to normal than it has been over the last 14 months. Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much. Have a nice weekend. You too. Greg Lamarro, the County Courier. You there, Greg. We'll move to Liam from VPR. Yeah, I had a question about some of the vaccine data that we have. There's a story in Kaiser Health News today about just state-by-state disparities in vaccination rates along like racial disparities. And in Vermont, they had that, according to the CDC data, they had gotten that 97% of the data the CDC had, they didn't know the race or ethnicity of the people in Vermont who'd received the shot. And I know our state data, I believe that something like 9% is unknown. And so I'm just kind of wondering if you know what the discrepancy is or if your state data is capturing something or counting this information in a way that the CDC data is not. I'm not sure, maybe Secretary Smith can answer that. I do, I was reading an article, another national article where they were giving us high marks for all we've done in the racial equity sector. So we were actually leading by their measure. So I don't know where everyone's getting the information or not getting the information. Secretary Smith. Thanks, I saw the same article too and yesterday I asked a question on this. And the way that the CDC asks the question, in some regards, we can't give them the information that they want, we do track an aggregate. The way that they break it down and the way that they want it broken down violates some of our laws here in Vermont. And if Dr. Levine has more specifics about that. So we didn't, we don't supply the information that they want. I think there's six or seven states that don't supply the information in the format that they want. Now we do it in the aggregate on our dashboard and as the governor said, we're doing quite well in our BIPOC community in terms of vaccination. I think the disparity between white non-hispanics in the BIPOC community is like 5.5%. Now if you remember that used to be about over 13%. We have driven that number down quite substantially mostly through large help of the BIPOC community and various members of associations that help the BIPOC community, but also specialized clinics, as well as reaching out to them throughout this pandemic. And we've been quite proud of that number in terms, well, we're not proud until there's zero discrepancy, but at the same time, quite proud of what we've done over the past few months in that area. Dr. Levine, if you have more specifics on what we report to the CDC and what we can report to them. Thank you, Secretary Smith, and I hope this doesn't get too technical for anyone. But our vaccine data team has known about this issue and discussed this issue with CDC on a very ongoing basis, and it's close to being resolved. It has to do with Vermont's immunization laws, prohibiting the health department from sharing immunization records, unless they're for public health purposes in some summary or statistical form in which particular individuals are not identified. We collect data on race and ethnicity, and we share the aggregate information, but CDC until now has been requiring patient level records to track vaccine coverage. So it is that issue that is conflicting with Vermont law. So basically, we can put things on our public dashboard in aggregate and without risking any exposure of personal information. We've been discussing this with CDC about how we can submit our same information by a different mechanism in aggregate, and the word is that we're close to a resolution on that, but of course the article you were reading couldn't know that and just represented us as being in the state that doesn't do that. There are about seven, I think as Secretary Smith was saying, seven or eight states that are in similar predicaments, but don't let it, the take home message for everyone here is that we have done fantastic job with reporting race. Most states had big issues in the beginning of the pandemic because race was, even if it was on a form, the data was often not collected, and Vermont also had a problem with that, though not to the same extent. The problem has been remedied tremendously, so it's not through a lack of data that this issue has come up. We would love to be as transparent as we can in aggregate with the data. Is that clear, Liam? Yeah, thank you. I might have some follow-up, but I could do that offline and not take time here. I think that'll do it for me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And we'll try going back to Greg from the County Courier. Thank you, Jason. Good afternoon, Governor. I hope you can hear me this time. I can. Awesome. Governor, just a quick follow-up. You mentioned that when we get to 80% of qualified Vermonters, you will immediately lift the restriction. Do you mean that you will end the emergency order, or will you just be essentially wiping out the restrictions in that order? We'll essentially, at that point, be lifting all the restrictions, but the emergency order will be within, let's say a couple of weeks of that. We're just, and it could be then, we're just making sure we're working on that. We'll be starting to work on that over the next week or two to make sure that there is nothing left in there that we have to address in a different way to make sure that we continue to get the information that is necessary, or are the funding that we need to finish this off or the vaccination sites or whatever it is, there may be something within the emergency order that we need for a little bit longer to unwind this. So we just wanna be better safe than sorry, but it'll essentially be lifting all the restrictions and ending the emergency order, but we may technically not do that on that day. Okay, and again, for clarity, the 80% number, that is 80% of eligible Vermonters beginning their vaccination. Yes. The two-week waiting period after that. Yes, it'll be whenever we reach that 12 and over, 80% of the 12 and over population with at least their first dose. Okay, thank you, Governor. Thanks for coming back to me, Jason, and wish you both a happy weekend. Thank you, you too. Tom Davis, come to Sir Matt. Thanks, Jason. Governor, this goal to get to 80%, there's been a lot of research that's been done that if somebody who's hesitant about getting the vaccine that they talk to a doctor, even if it's not their own doctor, that they does increase the likelihood that they will go ahead and get a vaccine. Has there been any thought to doing an outreach where Vermont places physicians in high-trafficed areas offering to speak to anybody about getting a vaccine? Yeah, interesting, I saw there was something on the news today, as a matter of fact, on a forum that they had with pediatricians, and I thought that that was quite powerful, and I'm gonna let Dr. Levine answer this because he's in contact with his fellow physicians. Thank you, Governor. So I'll take this in pieces. So we've had about a dozen forums around the state since the 12 and older were allowed to get vaccine by the FDA. We even started some of them before that was official, just to get the ball rolling, and that's made up of pediatricians from around the state, and often usually with a pediatrician that's well-known within the community that the forum's taking place on. That's been really good for allowing people to air their concerns, get their questions answered, et cetera. The other aspect is, obviously, Vermont has one of the highest rates, if not the highest rate in the country, for people having a primary care healthcare provider, physician, nurse practitioner, whatever, and all through this time, that community has been available to talk to their individual patients, even if they couldn't be the ones delivering the vaccine to them at that moment. In addition to that, beginning two days ago, we've started a very gradual process of having more vaccine available in the primary care community. This was more of a pilot early on because we need to have enough vaccine to do it on a bigger scale, and we're anticipating that will happen within weeks. So people can now actually get the vaccine from their own clinician if they've been waiting and holding on to that point. That will happen over these next several weeks. So the only thing we haven't done that you've mentioned is thinking about deploying physicians at some of these sites, if you will, that we're bringing vaccine to. I would have its own set of challenges, obviously, because as you've seen on the slides, there are so many of those sites. But there are healthcare professionals at many of these sites, like EMS. And depending on where you go, there may be a public health nurse or a nurse associated with one of the healthcare networks or hospitals in the state. So there's been no shortage of opportunity to actually have a conversation with somebody in healthcare who may be knowledgeable and respected by the Vermonter who's there. I have to say an anecdote, got an email last night from a Vermonter that I've corresponded with previously, who's on the verge of turning 80 and has been waiting for the vaccine in their healthcare provider's office. And I said to them, I'm really thinking since you want the vaccine, and the only thing you're waiting for is that familiar setting that we can find a place for you to go. I really want you to get the vaccine now. You're in a vulnerable group. Why wait any longer? And it just so happened, he emailed me last night saying he'd been to the pharmacy in his community and his favorite pharmacist was actually present there and had one dose left of Johnson & Johnson. And he said, this is the time and that's the way it went. And I'm hoping for many Vermonters, they will see that this is the time and there's no need to wait any longer. And they can even have that conversation with their healthcare provider ahead of time, but still go to another site to get the vaccine once they feel comfortable with the concept of the fact that they are going to get it. Okay. Thank you, doctor. My own follow-up on that would be that it seems I don't have any data on this, but it seems we are now in Vermont into the statistics of people who are most hesitant for a lot of reasons, which also may mean that they don't actually go to their doctor because they may be reticent for other reasons, just even talk to a doctor about it. So it seemed like an outreach piece where you wouldn't necessarily where you're administering vaccines as much as you go to high traffic areas where there might be some volunteers who say, I'm a doctor. If you're happy to talk to you about COVID vaccine. But I certainly understand the outreach. It's been a great job by Vermont. Yeah, thank you. And if you use the New York Times article that recently came out looking at all the states and who's still left over in those states to get vaccine, who's been most hesitant? We have a very, very small percentage of Vermonters who don't believe in the pandemic or just don't believe in the vaccine and will never get it. That's a very, very small number. And a less small but still pretty small number of Vermonters who have just said they didn't have the time, they needed to get off from work, they needed to be more convenient for them, or they've been just kind of watching to make sure everybody else is doing okay. So we have the answers for those audiences and you've seen them here at the press conference today. So I think we'll do very well in that regard. Thank you. One last question. Did you ever hear back from anybody at the Senate on the PPP forgiveness loan tax? I believe that is in a bill that is going to be passed. So yes, I believe that we're still waiting to see, but I think that has passed or is going to pass in the next 24 hours. Very good. Thank you. Have a great weekend, everyone. You too. Aaron Potanko, R.C. Digger. Tim McQuiston for my business magazine. Hi, Governor, just a quick follow up. I was wondering if, you know, they asked about the PPP, but there's also the question about taking 2020 out of the unemployment calculation. I was wondering if that ever came to our didn't hear. Yes, I believe that is another bill that is set to be passed. I think there's been a handshake on that. And so I believe that's in good shape. Okay. You probably saw the report from the DEC about carbon emissions going down in Vermont and the utility, the electric utilities are asking for rate hikes, of course. So as the state transitions more to electricity and transportation and heating, are you concerned at all that we're gonna face increasing electric rate hikes? Yeah, well, that'll be another challenge in the future. And I've always been concerned about rising utility rates, electrical rates in particular, and something that we've been trying to address over the last four years. So yes, I guess the basic answer is I am concerned about that in the future. But we, at least they're regulated and we have different opportunities to make sure that we're keeping those as low as possible. But I do think there's going to be a changing world out there and that the investments that have been made in the past, I think will be beneficial to the future and we'll have to do as much as we can to be as efficient as we possibly can while reducing our carbon emissions. I was surprised by the actual reduction with that. That's kind of off guard a little bit. What was your take on the report? Yeah, I didn't, I saw the high points, but I haven't read the article yet. So the pandemic had to have something to do with that. I do believe that we're going to, and I've said this a lot, again over the last three years, I'm very excited about what's happening in the transportation world with electric vehicles. I think when I talked about this three years ago and seeing President Biden, because I mentioned the F-150, I think, in one of my either budget addresses or state of the state, and now it's being unveiled and President Biden drove one. It looks just like a regular F-150, but very, very different, full electric. And this is the answer. This is going to be a continued path to less carbon emissions that we've seen in the past due to transportation. Transportation has about, I think, by some measures, 60% of the carbon emissions are from transportation. So the sooner we can transition to electric vehicles, the better off we're going to be. And we won't have to have things like carbon taxes at that point. So again, I think we're seeing this, a supply and demand will take over. I think there'll be a lot of demand for these types of vehicles. And the market certainly has figured out that they can capitalize on this. Are the incentives going to stick around do you think on the new vehicle and actually use vehicles too for late vehicles? I would say so for a bit, but then again, supply and demand and capitalism takes over and pretty soon people are competing for customers for vehicles. I wouldn't see that there would be a need then, but we're not there yet. And I know that the infrastructure package that the president has talked about is included, I believe, incentives for electric vehicles and other areas of opportunity for electric, whatever's. So again, we're not there yet, but at some point there'll be a lot of competition in the automotive and transportation sector. All right, great. Thank you very much. And we'll try going back to Erin. I think she's on the line again. You're not there, girl? Can you hear me? We can. So I just have calculations and it would be great if someone kicked in the farm but 80% of the eligible population vaccinated, it looks like that's about 70% of the total population of Vermont. Yeah, I think that's about right. Yeah, yes, that's about right. You know, both estimates of herd immunity which vary, seem to vary a lot, but they seem to be a little bit higher than that in like the 80% range, maybe 85%-ish. Are you concerned about the fact that we won't have like a herd immunity level by the time that all the restrictions are listed? Yeah, I think I better let Dr. Levine talk about herd immunity because I've heard actually lower percentages than that and I've heard the higher ones so I don't know what to believe. All I know is that Vermont is the leader in that category, I believe at this point in time and if we hit this target of 80%, we will be the leader. But Dr. Levine? Yeah, Erin, because it's such a vague number for herd immunity, I've been purposely taking our focus off it and trying to just sort of ignore it in a sense because I let the data stand for itself and all the data I showed today and that we've talked about every week here and that's happening now across the country in places where they have far less robust vaccination rates than we do is showing that the impact of vaccine has been substantial and I think we should just use that as the take home message. I would say that if we do get to 80% or when we do get to 80% and if that was 70% of the population, we're clearly showing that that's substantial and then if you could add into that what will almost certainly happen either by the fall or in the beginning of 2022, which is vaccine available to those younger than 12, we will certainly, again, be at a very robust level of immunization and get to that kind of herd immunity number you're looking for. So I would just say that let's not focus on that so much, focus on the fact that if any state's gonna achieve herd immunity, it is us and whether the number be 80% determines herd immunity or 85% or what have you, we're gonna be very, very close to that if not surpass that. So we won't focus on the number for herd immunity as much as how meaningful it will be that 80% of eligible for monitors actually have been vaccinated. Well, I kind of have a related but separate question from whether we reach for immunity or not. I mean, what evidence do we have that 70% of the population vaccinated is safe to open all COVID restrictions? I mean, do we know that it will prevent transmission from occurring or outbreak from spreading among that 30% of the population that still hasn't gotten any shots? You know, if the data that I just presented about the nursing home experience which is the most vulnerable population is any indicator, the answer is yes. The goal is suppression of the virus and suppression of the virus means that it's just being passed so infrequently from person to person that it keeps reaching dead ends and the more dead ends it reaches the less we're gonna see of it even if we're at 70% of the total population. So that's really what we're trying to do. We're recognizing that even in very vulnerable settings a high vaccination rate of the residents still leads to really good immunity and low case rates even in those who are unvaccinated in that setting. We should go with that. If we wanna have something to worry about we should worry more about the world than the state of Vermont because the world is lagging behind as you know with getting vaccination especially to less developed nations and thank goodness the current administration has tried to increase our contribution to that but it really needs to be a worldwide contribution to that and it needs to be very much done with haste. So those are the numbers we should focus on going towards the future, how the rest of the world is doing and how quickly can we give them vaccine because our country is reaching the point where we're using less than we were originally and there's probably more being manufactured than we need to use here alone. I mean the evidence certainly points towards vaccines needing to lower case counts generally but is there a benchmark or would you change your outlook if case count part arrived is essentially my question? Oh believe me we're not stopping following any data even if I don't wanna show you those slides anymore in the future it doesn't mean we're not gonna follow data as closely and as frequently as we do. So we will know if anything changes but I would be very, very surprised if things change at this point in time. All of the trends are going very dramatically and consistently in the same direction. So and again my goal here is suppress the virus significantly so that when we do reach the fall and winter in respiratory viruses of all sorts get passed from people to people we'll see much less of that. Thank you. Guy Beach, Veronica Vermont State House, WCAX. Okay, Governor at least five Vermont private colleges will require student vaccination for COVID-19 for the fall semester. What is the likelihood that Vermont's public universities and public K through 12 schools also will require vaccination this fall? Yeah, I don't know is that will be the case for public schools K through 12 by me, by public. Are you talking about the state colleges? Yes. Yeah. They would attain to 12 and all to the state colleges and UVM. Yeah, UVM I believe has already said that they are going to be requiring their students to be vaccinated. I'm not sure about the state colleges at this point and I think like Middlebury has said both staff and students. So in fact, I saw I think that 280 seems to come to mind 280 institutions in the Northeast have required this. So I don't know about the state colleges at this point but we can look that we can find that out for you but I don't see a path where we're going to be requiring students in the K through 12 unless anything. Thank you. I'm going to. Also, Governor, are you aware that a supporter of Vermont and Liberty, the group started by John Clark was beaten in pepper spray after a Vermont and Liberty event on the State House lawn on Saturday and do you have any comments or thoughts about it? I wasn't aware of what group it was but I did hear that there was a situation and you know, regardless of our points of view regardless of our strong viewpoints it shouldn't result in a physical altercation. So I condemn anything physical of that nature again, peaceful, civil disagreement is fine and civil protests is fine but it should not it should not devolve into a physical confrontation. So I condemn the action by whoever did it. Thank you. Pat WCAX. Hi, these questions are for Dan French. After the restrictions are lifted and if it's while the school year is still going will students still need to mask up? Yeah, thanks for the question, Kat. We're having those conversations. You know, I do meet weekly with the superintendent's association so we were discussing yesterday how the end of the year might go relative to this issue. So we don't have all the answers to that yet but I'm confident we'll be able to plan our way through it. We've, as I mentioned in my comments today had to plan through some infinitely more complex issues than this one. So I know we'll get there but we're still working on it. As schools develop their recovery plans many things to be leaning on summer school. Is this going to be adequate for making up for the learning laws especially if enrollment levels are low and districts can't find enough teachers? That's a great question. You know, our recovery planning framework has three focus areas. Learning loss or academics is one. The other two are social, emotional, well-being and re-engagement. We've, I think, very intentionally with our summer matters campaign see the summer really being about that re-engagement piece. And I would argue at this point in the recovery process it is sort of the essential precondition by which we would address the other two areas. Meaning that our first step is to re-engage with our students, particularly this summer. We'd like to see all Vermont students involved whether it be a job, in a summer camp, in a summer activity, what have you. It's really about engagement this piece because that's gonna be the essential sort of first step to understand what their learning loss is and certainly to understand where they're coming from from an anxiety or social, emotional, well-being perspective. So in making up that learning loss what is the education agency's position on having students repeat a grade level as some states are mandating? Yeah, we don't have such a regulatory mandate approach at the state level in Vermont. The issues of retention and promotion are a local school board issue. At this point, I think for most districts again it's very premature. We first have to understand to what extent there is learning loss and in order to do that we first have to re-establish our connection with our students. So I think that'll be an ongoing conversation in the fall but at this point the priority is really ending the year on a celebratory note, engaging with our students over the summer so we can start to begin to understand how they've been affected by the pandemic both academically and from a social, emotional standpoint. Thank you. Welcome. Devin Bates, local 22, local 44. Yeah, hi, question for Governor Scott as we're getting toward the end of the legislative session here. What are your thoughts on what Vermont lawmakers were able to do throughout the fatality of the session? I know there's some recent bills like H360, the broadband bill that isn't quite investing what you had been hoping for but when you stand back and look at the unique situation of this session, very consequential, doing it entirely remotely. What do you think about what the legislature was and wasn't able to get done for Vermont years? Yeah, well, again, it was a new frontier for all of us on trying to get through this legislative session and I think they did well and I think they, and I appreciate all that they've done especially in the last couple of weeks to come to agreement with some of our provisions. I will say, I just wanted to reiterate, the 150 million of the broadband bill, that was right in line with what we were thinking for the first year. My approach had been, because we had three years to spend this money that we're receiving from Congress, ARPA money, was a little over a billion dollars and one of the buckets that I said, I'd like to make sure that we reserve 250 million for broadband. Now, in their intent language in the bill, it's not quite passed yet, but I think it'll be taken up this afternoon in the Senate and in the House, it may be taken up right now in the Senate but they had made mention of what their intent is and 250 million is intended to be used for broadband. So we're in agreement on that and I just want to make sure that everyone understands we didn't see that we could spend 250 million in the first year, but we want to make sure that we spend at least 250 million over the next two to three years to get broadband to all areas of the state. All right, thanks for that clarification. Have a good weekend. You too. Andrew McGregor, Caledonian record. Yes, thank you, good afternoon. With the 80% goal for lifting restrictions, there likely will be some parts of the state and I'm referring especially to the Northeast Kingdom that will be far short of that vaccination rate when the state hits it as a whole. I'm wondering if you have any concerns about what easing restrictions in those areas may mean if they are still lagging quite far behind. Yeah, it's not a perfect system. It's not a perfect system when you look across the country either. We're one of the better performing states, if not the best performing states and we have other states that are half of where we are. So that's a concern regardless of where you go and what you do. I will say that we're not going to stop vaccinating people when we lift all the restrictions or cease with the emergency order. We're going to continue to set up clinics, advocate for people to get their vaccination and continue to try and meet them where they are and that includes the Northeast Kingdom. So this isn't over by any means, but I believe at that point when we hit 80%, the majority of people will be protected and it'll be up to the other 20% to protect themselves and they should continue to wear masks and protect themselves and distance themselves from others who are not vaccinated. I mean, it's as simple as that, but we'll continue to provide guidance and opportunities for them to be vaccinated. Okay, thank you very much. Joseph Gresser, the Bargain Chronicle. Hello, I am curious. I remember when the issue of fraud in the unemployment claims came up, there was a question of whether the state would be able to hold people whose accounts had been fraudulently, had claims submitted against them. They paid out harmless and I just wonder whether the federal officials who were asked about this have come up with a reply and so if it's been satisfactory. Commissioner Harrington. So if the claim is specifically identified as fraud, then there is no problem with holding individuals harmless. I think that the question, if I remember back to when it was originally asked, also included some other caveats in there about overpayments due to a variety of different circumstances. So did the question today about if it's been identified clearly as imposter fraud or someone using a stolen identity to file, then the actual individual is held harmless. Good. And one more question, Dr. Levine earlier was speaking about vaccination in the rest of the world. And while I understand the moral imperative, I'm curious as to whether Dr. Levine sees a people who have not had the opportunity to be vaccinated for natural or other reasons around the world to be able to. So you're right, there's a moral and ethical reason. There's also a practical reason and there's a selfish reason all wrapped up together. First of all, when you look at what's going on in India and some parts of Africa, it's tragic, absolutely tragic, the devastation of life that's occurring there. So we should all feel that getting vaccine is an appropriate response to prevent that from happening in even more places. Practically speaking though, and it's a little bit selfish but it's the way we are now. This is a pandemic. This is a global enterprise. Look at what happens in India now. There's a new variant that has been discovered in India that's accounting for a high percentage of their cases. That variant is reportedly even more transmissible than the B117, which was the UK variant. Some in the UK believe this variant in India is actually more likely to cause severe illness or even death. The point of the matter is the more the virus can thrive, no matter where it is in the world, the more it can be transmitted from person to person, the more it can mutate as viruses do and the more variant strains like this new one I'm commenting on can develop. And a variant developing in India might as well be developing right here in the United States because people are traveling all the time and that's how we in fact got the virus in the first place in the United States through travel. So bottom line is it's better off for us in Vermont, for us in the United States and for everyone in the whole world if we can have a unified response to the virus, not in a piecemeal fashion but really aggressively provide vaccine as widely as possible so the virus can no longer be transmitted and mutate and perhaps cause worse variant strains that could come back to impact us. That's the simple answer. Well thank you. Hello, VT Digger. Hi, thank you. Governor, you were talking to Dan about the accomplishment of the legislature this year and I wanted to ask specifically about the leadership. This is the first session for the new speaker and program and I wonder how would you factorize your working relationship with them and how did you find their approach to leading their chambers? Yeah, no, I think they've done a great job in their first year and I appreciate what we, you know, the frankness of our conversations we meet often, at least every other week, sometimes every week and it's been, it's been a good dialogue, good discussion, very open and they adhere to their word and everything's been working fine. We don't agree on everything, but we're honest about that and we are able to talk about that. So I think they've done very well in their first year. As somebody who served in the legislature, I wonder, you know, but how would you factorize kind of their approach to leadership in their chambers from what you've seen as an observer? Yeah, hard to know because especially in the situation we find ourselves in with this remote legislating, it's not the same thing. So I don't get to see it and I think that we'll see, you know, I don't know if it'd be more challenging or less challenging when we all get back in person but it will be something that we can look at and compare to unknown that we can compare to. Very difficult under these circumstances and that's why I give them high marks because all the legislators in some respects and the advocates and Vermonters in general for having to work their way through this in a whole different environment. So it has been easy for anyone and certainly not for leadership in the House and the Senate, but I give them high marks for how they've been able to accomplish this and look forward to getting back in person in the next session. Thank you. Okay, well thank you very much for tuning in and we'll see you again on Tuesday.