By Guy Page
Last week, Covid-19 hospitalizations decreased two percent among less/non-vaccinated Vermonters, while rising nine percent among the fully vaccinated, Vermont Dept. of Health statistics say.
Hospitalization among unvaccinated/not-fully-vaccinated Vermonters remains 3.2 times greater than vaccinated Vermonters. The statistics show the gap of infection and hospitalization rate – long much higher among the unvaxxed/not-fully-vaxxed – growing smaller in recent weeks.
The Dept. of Health weekly briefing for at least the second consecutive week offers no statistics about the vaccination status of recent Covid-19 fatalities. Vermont Daily Chronicle has asked spokespeople for both the Vermont Dept. of Health and the Scott administration for this information, but without success. During the press conference, administration officials said 19 Vermonters have died of Covid-19 during October, but no further breakdown was available. Gov. Scott promised to provide that information.
The week’s rate of infection also increased the most steeply among fully-vaccinated Vermonters. Gov. Scott was asked why 89%-vaccinated Vermont is experiencing a strong increase in infections, when the rest of the nation is seeing a welcome decline. He had no specific answer. “It is frustrating in a lot of different regards. There are a lot of different theories out there….Hopefully this will get through in the next couple of weeks, and we’ll start our downturn.”
“We ask this question every day,” Levine said. “Bottom line, this is Delta.” He also noted less-vaccinated counties are showing higher infection rates.
Scott later noted that Vermont is the third high-testing state in the U.S., which may contribute to our state’s high infection rate where elsewhere it’s declining.
Scott and Human Services Agency Secretary Mike Smith both decried an apparent attempt of anti-vax mandate protesters to inhibit a vaccination clinic at the Doubletree – Hilton Monday.