by Guy Page
57% of all Vermont Covid-19 deaths in October were fully vaccinated, according to State of Vermont statistics.
From Oct. 1 to Oct. 30, among Vermont residents there were 21 fully vaccinated deaths (rate of .49 per 10,000 residents), zero partially vaccinated, and 16 unvaccinated deaths (rate of .81 per 10,000 residents).
A total of 383 Vermonters have died during the pandemic, with only one under age 30. The monthly mortality statistics do not reference age, nor how many occurred in nursing homes.
As reported elsewhere today in Vermont Daily Chronicle, Vermont yesterday experienced the highest daily count of Covid-19 cases ever – 487. Yesterday also saw the highest number of tests as well, and the percentage of positivity (2.7%) was about average, Gov. Phil Scott said.
Today’s count may top yesterday, with 377 already by 10:56 AM. 16 Vermonters suffering from Covid-19 are in the ICU.
Gov. Scott yesterday referred again to “the pandemic of the unvaccinated,” citing higher than average case counts in the lightly vaccinated Northeast Kingdom and the high percentage of hospitalizations among unvaccinated Vermonters. Case statistics from yesterday and today do not include a direct vaxxed/unvaxxed breakdown.
“The continued high number of cases reflect a concerning level of ongoing community spread of the virus,” Vermont Department of Health spokesperson Ben Truman said. “With Sars-CoV-2 and the Delta variant, we are dealing with a very different creature than other viruses in the state – a highly infectious respiratory virus that is exceptionally good at moving from person-to-person.”
Some past abnormally high daily counts were due to data counting glitches. That’s not the case with yesterday’s count, Truman said. But the trend of light testing on weekends may cause high one-day totals.
“From the data perspective, there are no glitches or delays associated with today’s numbers. I do want to note that one factor in the high numbers reported today is the spike and dips we see in positive reports on a given day,” Truman said. “For example, we are finding in general that fewer people tend to get tested over the weekend than later during the week. This means that, relative to the positivity rate, we would see more positive cases reflected in the results that are reported later in the week – which contributes to the one-day jumps.”