Officials plead heavy workload due to surge in cases
By Guy Page
The Vermont Department of Health no longer reports the number of unvaccinated Vermont Covid-19 deaths on its daily dashboard or weekly reports. Nor will it, at least as long as the current surge of Covid-19 cases lasts.
Despite repeated references by state officials to the Vermont Covid-19 pandemic as “a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” and their approval of employer vaccine mandates, the Vermont Dept. of Health has since last month dropped any specific mention of unvaccinated Vermonters from its reporting of Covid-19 death statistics. The State now uses just two categories: “not fully vaccinated” and “fully vaccinated.”
The Vermont Daily Chronicle has repeatedly asked State Health Dept. officials, via email and at the governor’s weekly press conferences, for up-to-date information on Covid fatalities among both the unvaccinated and the vaccinated. This morning we received this firm ‘no, at least for now’ response from Vt. Dept. of Health spokesperson Ben Truman:
“With the data team having to analyze, process and prepare for public information, thousands of cases a day, it is our hope that the version of the information you are asking for — provided daily on the dashboard, and weekly in the data summaries can suffice,” Truman said.
Vermont is indeed in the grips of an unprecedented number of daily new cases. Today’s dashboard reported 2,217 new cases. Just over a month ago, the one-time high was 604 cases.
The record high number of cases does not appear to have overwhelmed the state’s hospital capacity. 32% of Vermont inpatient hospital beds are empty today, according to federal data. One patient bed in 10 is in use to treat Covid patients. 19% of ICU beds are empty, with 24 of Vermont’s 96 total staffed ICU beds in use for Covid patients.
At the Jan. 11 press conference, senior administration officials attempted to explain the recent lack of publicly-shared information about unvaccinated Covid deaths. “Having a single dose or having no doses, there’s a difference but at this point, it’s not anywhere near the difference between being fully vaccinated and being boosted on top of that,” Dept. of Financial Regulation Commissioner Michael Pieciak said.
Health Commissioner Mark Levine then assured that most of the “not fully vaccinated” are likely completely unvaccinated. “While I can’t give you the exact numbers, we know throughout the pandemic that the number of people who only got one dose and were still waiting for a second dose were in the single digit percents. A very small number generally and that number shrinks over time. So I would anticipate most of the people in the not fully vaccinated category are truly unvaccinated. And even if a small percentage of them don’t fit that profile, most of them are going to fit that profile.”
About 14% of Vermonters age five and over have not received even a single dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the Dept. of Health vaccine dashboard reports.
Categories: Covid-19
They are losing the battle, one lie at a time. They figure the less true facts they reveal, the more believable their lies will be, WRONG!!!!!
I keep having this vision of the the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz; Dorothy accidentally throws water on her and the witch slowly ‘melts’. Let’s hope/pray this is what is happening behind the scenes.
I would love to see everyone contact their state representatives and senators and ask them to contact Health Commissioner Levine and insist the DoH be transparent and report statistics according to vaccine status: unvaccinated, partially, “fully”, and “boosted”. My representative works at UVMMC and has confirmed to me they record this way.
My representative wrote: “We (UVMMC) routinely add vaccination status to patient charts/EMRs, whether unvaccinated, partially, or fully vaccinated. If the patient was not vaccinated by one of our providers we won’t have access to that information unless the patient volunteers it, but otherwise – it’s not difficult and we do it all of the time. I confirmed this just now with hospital leadership.”
Ask them:
Given the Joint Rules Committee and the entire legislature is making decisions and sponsoring legislation based upon DoH information along with CDC information, your reply is critical:
1. If all Vermont hospitals are NOT recording vaccination status, and the vaccination status of some patients who die of or with covid is unknown, then how can the DoH accurately determine the rate of covid deaths according to vaccination status?
2. If there is a group of people whose vaccination status is unknown and they are hospitalized or die from or with covid, then that should be reported on the DoH dashboard: do you agree?
3. How many patients are admitted for reasons other than covid, test positive for covid, and then die? Is the death reported as death from covid or death with covid?
4. What is the capacity of ICU beds necessary to sustain the operating costs of the ICU unit at UVMMC and all network providers?
5. What is the typical capacity of standard hospital beds and the ICU each month of the year? Context matters.
6. I would like your opinion on whether you think the DoH is reporting covid statistics accurately.
Staff shortages and a backlog of procedures due to the shutdown are contributing factors to the hospital being “overwhelmed” and ICU beds are not to capacity:
https://www.uvmhealth.org/news/uvmhn/uvm-health-network-stands-additional-icu-covid-19-capacity
“For months, health care systems nationwide – including the UVM Health Network – have been under severe strain due to a rapid and sustained increase in demand after patients delayed routine and urgent care in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients continue to be sicker when they arrive, requiring more acute care and regularly pushing the limits of ICU capacity. Hospitals throughout the region are experiencing the same challenges.”
All of this information is out there, Scott and Levine do not want the public to know the true facts so they just keep saying they dont have the information. The real true facts were shared on this site this week by a reader who took the time to find it and share it. And low and behold, they are lying to us!!
Debra Hale, my comment is a call to action to hold your legislators accountable for making legislative decisions based upon false data. Question them.
What is Levine’s definition of “not fully vaccinated” and “fully vaccinated”? Does fully vaccinated mean you received the initial two shots? Or does it mean you’ve been boosted? Or does it mean you’ve been boosted for fourteen days? Their nebulous categorization of cohorts provides cover for a lot of data manipulation designed to fit the narrative of choice.
I guess old Ben [the health officials above him ?t he Gvoernor too] does not understand how easily we all can spot transparent lies out here from among the deplorables. Guess what, “Gentlemen”…….We SEE every damned one of you very clearly……..the gig is up, fellas…..AND ARE WE EVER GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR ALL THIS RECKLESS CRIMINAL NONSENSE AND THIEVERY. …..Oh, yes, Gents….. You are gonna pay for this.
Not surprising.;Now that the vaccinated have equaled or surpassed the unvaccinated in hospitalizations and death, they aren’t going to share it. They want to keep the sheep in line and keep up the lies as long as possible🤬
The ONLY reason they would do this is because unvaccinated deaths are low. If they were high, (as everyone claims), they would proudly display it in their graphs.
Each of you are good candidates for the Americanism and Marxism symposium. vthope.net/luvt.html We’d like to bring it into your vicinity if you can round up 5-8+ that are interested.
FED!
Is anyone really surprised by the obfuscation of facts by the DOH?
Understand, please that it would be very inconvenient to have actual facts, science and data that conflict with the policies that are based on “science and data”.
Everyone seems to have their opinions set in stone regarding this “pandemic” with a survival rate of 99.7%. Very few minds will be changed of those worshiping at the altar of fauci science. If we non-believers in the government narrative continue to offer the information we have- including treatment options- we can set the stage for November 2022 elections, to get real representation in Vermont government.
“Anticipate” is a scientific term.
Maybe the Data would expose all the lies they’ve been feeding us that natural immunity is stronger and protects us unlike the vaccine and continual boosters
The marathon chicken dance is coming to a close soon. Yet Levine continues dancing away in the Conga line with the voices in his head. Fauci isn’t answering voice mail messages from Levine – too busy redacting his financial records and scrambling for relevance.
So happy I am in the “control group”!
Scott and Levine were quick to point out the stats on the unvaccinated as long as it suited their narrative. Shame and Blame was the M.O. The unvaccinated were to blame for everything. Gig’s up fellas.
So very Scientific Dr. Levine… ( Mark Levine then assured that most of the “not fully vaccinated” are likely completely unvaccinated. “While I can’t give you the exact numbers, we know throughout the pandemic that the number of people who only got one dose and were still waiting for a second dose were in the single digit percents. A very small number generally and that number shrinks over time. So I would anticipate most of the people in the not fully vaccinated category are truly unvaccinated. And even if a small percentage of them don’t fit that profile, most of them are going to fit that profile.”)
Levine is going down. He’s the #1 Sewer Rat here in VT
Yes, it is criminal nonsense. Visit vthope.net/covid.html for postings from national and international leaders/organizations that are bolding stepping to the plate.
If you are upset about this and other erosions of our freedoms, you’re a good candidate for the Americanism and Marxism symposium. More on that can be found at vthope.net/luvt.html
Remember when Levine said he prefers to call boosted, “fully protected “! Ha. What a joke. I tried to call in on vermont edition today on vpr and ask him if hospitals had any additional federal financial incentive to list people as covid cases despite being in hospital for different reason all together, maybe a sprained ankle or something. They kept hanging up on me and at one point the call screener asked in dismay, “what group are you people representing?! Who told you to ask these questions!!?” Hahaha! Sucks to know youre on the wrong side of right and wrong…doesn’t it JANE!
A fearful populace is a compliant, democrat-voting populous. The rest of us prefer freedom of thought.
Since the “14 day to lower the curve statement”, they have been lying. If the blind followers would stop for one second and add the lies and inconsistencies up, they may join the resistance.
The legislature is in session and the first thing leadership did was create mandates for entry into the Peoples House. This doesn’t represent the will of the People so then they voted to work remotely from the comfort of their own homes and without the suffocating masks they make our children wear 8 hrs a day or be singled out ridiculed punished or escorted out by the police. This works well because the People can just watch on tv rather than be bothersome with their concerns about their broken lives. Right now our little and adult school kids are forced to wear coverings that obstruct human respiration and interaction. Get the gene therapy if you wish but leave the control group alone. The damage caused by this foolishness is incalculable. Many good bills to stop this mess we’re introduced and ignored. It’s high time for change, and not the twisted ‘new’ nightmare that some call ‘normal’.
How silly of the DOH; all that tells us is that no unvacinated are dying.
I would be interested in the Vermont Health Department would identify the number of Covid deaths that were put on Remdesivir in the hospital. Since we know that America (which medical technology far exceeds most countries in the world) is # 1 for Covid deaths, and Brazil is # 2. The unifying characteristic between the USA and Brazil is both countries use Remdesivir in their hospitals for the treatment of Covid. Since we know a few years ago when doing clerical trials in Africa for Ebola using Remdesivir for 28 days, more than 50% died. But the clinical trial was using 3 other drugs on 3 other groups. Remdesivir was removed from the trial. Then early treatment trials for Covid we’re done by the company who makes Remdesivir for only 10 days, and once again Remdesivir was stopped as people were having liver failure, kidney damage. However the NIH (Fauci) told America Remdesivir was a good choice for Covid treatment. The NIH and FDA made Remdesivir the # 1 drug to use nationwide in all hospitals, and banned the use of Hydrocloroquine and Ivermectin (both accepted drugs for many years for humans. Remdesivir or better said “run-death- is-near” is a death sentence. I am sure VT Department of Health won’t share the Covid deaths using Remdesivir.
STILL WAITING FOR SOME *clarity* ,dr. levine, you schmuck