MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Gov. Phil Scott announced Friday that vaccine registration for 16- to 18-year-olds will open Saturday, two days before the 16-year-old general window opens.
The governor says that opening registration for high school students a little earlier will give them the opportunity to end the school year in person, with other COVID protections. Registration for vaccination will open at 10 a.m. Saturday and 16 and 17-year-olds will need parental or guardian’s permission. Those under 18 will receive the Pfizer shot, which is the only one approved for that age group. The vaccination registration window over 16 will open on Monday, at 6 am, as planned.
The state of Vermont has reached a milestone in vaccination, with more than half of adults now having at least one dose of COVID vaccine. On Friday, health officials reported that at least 51% received a single dose, or nearly 93,000 people. It is estimated that 34.1% completed all doses or over 186,000 people. Bennington County leads the state with 56%, and Essex County continues to follow with only 40%.
After this week’s “break” of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to rare episodes of blood clotting, Vermont health officials said Thursday that appointments for those who will receive the vaccine will be canceled until Friday, April 23, the secretary AHS Mike Smith says they are working to reschedule those who lost their appointments by the end of this month.
COVID variants have now been discovered in 10 of the state’s 14 counties, but health commissioner Dr. Mark Levine says they are likely in every county. The most common is the British version.
The number of COVID cases in schools is increasing. Secretary Vt. Education, Dan French, says schools have an average of 10-20 new infections a day. A recent survey of 85% of schools in the state found that 55% use a hybrid model, 33% are in-person and 12% are still remote.
The Frenchwoman says that students who are still learning from home will receive federal food benefits of 120 USD / month. Families of hybrid students will also continue to get money for food to replace free or reduced lunch for qualifying students. It will come in an EBT card and affects approximately 33,000 students. Eligible households will be notified and benefits are expected to arrive on April 29.
The French said the state is optimistic that districts will be able to hold events at the end of the year, such as graduations and balls.
The governor extended the state of emergency by another month, giving him the authority to adopt COVID rules by May 15.
The number of deaths through COVID in the state is increasing. Another nine Vermonters have died in the past three days, bringing the total death toll to 242. As of Friday, Vermont health officials have reported 141 new cases of coronavirus for a total of 21,803. The average seven-day percentage of the state is 1.9%. A total of 370,019 people were tested and 18,040 recovered.
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