Covid-19

Vax-only strategy not working, time for mask mandate, lawmakers say

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Rep. Dr. George Till says Vermont needs 90% vaccination of the entire population. Page photo.

By Guy Page

Vermont’s vaccination program isn’t enough to stop the pandemic, lawmakers and health care providers said at a press conference yesterday evening. Their demand for a new State of Emergency and universal mask mandate got the cold shoulder from Gov. Phil Scott today.

“If I thought a State of Emergency would be helpful, I would impose it,”Scott said at his weekly press conference. 

“I don’t think a vaccination-only program is working.” – RN and Rep. Mari Cordes

Scott and his staff have not heard the public clamor for more restrictions, he said today. “People are getting more and more enthusiastic about the boosters,” he said. Numbers are going down in Vermont and nationally.  The State of Emergency is something that shouldn’t be overused. There is a time and place for a State of Emergency. I can assure you, this isn’t it. If I thought a State of Emergency would be helpful, I would impose it.”

Representative and nurse Mari Cordes (Starkesboro/Bristol) and Rep. Dr. George Till (Jericho-Underhill) were asked by Vermont Daily Chronicle at yesterday’s press conference, “VT has 89% vaccination and yet we’re the highest two week average in the nation. Gov. Scott wants to stay the course with the vaccine program. Is the state’s vaccine program not working?”

“I don’t think a vaccination-only program is working,” Cordes said. Till added that claiming Vermont has an 89% vaccination rate is misleading because that number refers only to vaccine-eligible Vermonters. The ‘real’ number is probably in the 70’s, he said. 

“We need a vaccination program of overall 90% vaccination, including kids,” Till said. 

Vermont’s recent two-week first-in-the-nation number of new cases and the corresponding chaos in Vermont schools – with about 1,000 children already having lost classroom time due to mandated quarantine – should compel action, press conference organizers said. 

Cordes, Till, Dartmouth public health expert Anne Sosin, and others said Gov. Scott should impose a universal mask mandate for all indoor workplaces and public places. The mandate would stop when transmission rates drop, she said. 

“It doesn’t close/lockdown anything, it’s a way of preventing outbreaks in our workplaces and other settings,” Sosin said. “Mask policies give us time until we can vaccinate kids and boost high risk groups and reduce impacts we are seeing in health systems, schools, and businesses.  Vaccines still work well, but kids under 12 can’t get them yet (soon!).”

In defense of his administration’s reliance on vaccination, Scott said “this is still a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” 50,000 Vermonters are unvaccinated, he said. Noting that both cases and hospitalizations are 3.8 times greater among the unvaccinated, “you can see that vaccination is working,” the governor said. 

For the first time in three weeks, the rate of cases and hospitalizations grew faster among the unvaccinated than the vaccinated last week. Commissioner Levine had no information about October fatalities. He also said he is unaware of any fatalities among people who have received the boosters.

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Categories: Covid-19

30 replies »

  4. On Monday 140 cases were reported in Vermont by noon (presumably those cases would be from the previous day or days). It is often said Mondays are low count days because the weekend is a slow time (this certainly is true nationwide).

    Today Tuesday the case count is 91 in Vermont (from the previous 24 hours…so Monday plus any catch-up).

    Nationally the trend for cases is down significantly.

    I agree it is hard to predict exactly what the future will offer in terms of COVID, especially with the onset of winter and people spending more time indoors.

    It is also certainly true the case count in Vermont the last few weeks has been very high; certainly much higher than anyone expected.

    But with almost 90% of adults vaccinated in Vermont, 12-17 year olds now eligible and 5-11 year olds soon to be eligible (full disclosure: I am an advocate of vaccination… hopefully voluntarily), and with the national case count trending down, it is reasonable to believe that counts will over the near month or two move in a downward trajectory (although no one should expect a straight line).

    Yes breakthrough infections will occur but, many if not most, will be mild or moderate because a good level of immunity is on-board …. not enough to prevent infection, but enough to prevent serious illness in most (but not all).

    Infections will also occur in unvaccinated young people but they usually do well.

    Why are some people dying with breakthrough infections? Best guess, and it is an educated guess (but yes a guess nonetheless), is these are older individuals with other co-morbidities (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc), so they are at higher risk for negative outcomes.

    I once read an interesting book that detailed a fully loaded supertanker would require 5 miles of space to come to a full stop if some disaster was unfolding. The point being that large moving objects take time to stop. Similarly with a pandemic it will not stop in an instant. Currently things are moving in a positive direction. Hopefully that will continue.

    • To Gerry Silverstein,

      What facts did you use to decide that Covid Shots should be given to children 5 – 11 years old?

      Specifically, what do you think this will improve?

      • I said that 5-11 year olds would be eligible for the vaccine. The clinical trial results I have seen reported seem good with no “red flags” at this time (that of course could change). The benefit of vaccinating children is primarily not to protect them from serious illness, as they seem to do pretty well on their own. The benefit is to the larger population. Vaccinating children removes vectors for spread of the virus to other non-immune, elderly, and compromised members of the population (including young children). Vaccination is done to protect the individual AND to protect the population when dealing with transmissible agents. I understand not everyone agrees with vaccination in general and specifically to protect against COVID. I have been a participant in the biomedical sciences for more than 5 decades and believe in the concept of risk-benefit. I have also taught about the history of vaccines and their usage beginning with Edward Jenner’s experiments to immunize against smallpox. As regards vaccines in current use I believe the benefits outweigh the risks. But again I understand not everyone supports this perspective. America is a hyper-polarized country currently, and the issues of vaccines and masks lend credence to that reality. I offer my perspective as “one voice in a choir of many” so to speak. Having said all this please understand I do not agree with every statement that is placed into the public domain by members of the health professions at both the State and national (CDC) levels, as I have indicated in previous commentaries on this site.

      • Mr Silverstein’s logic doesn’t register with me. Since there ARE known side effects from the ‘vaccines’ AND unknown side effect potential, why would one vaccinate a child whom has effectively no risk of dying from SARS-CoV-2? Children don’t even seem to be symptomatic.
        If the risk is to a different demographic, the different demographic needs to adjust to protect itself. Forcing children whom have virtually no risk to take an experimental “vaccine” constitutes criminal action in my book. One step farther, children that have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 and have natural immunity should NOT be subjected to these ‘vaccines’. Ever. Remember, these gene therapies are being administered under ‘Emergency Use Authorization’. Pfizer does NOT have the FDA approved drug available in the US, Moderna and J&J have no ‘approved’ ‘vaccine’. Much of the information disseminated by Federal and State governments has been verified as inaccurate. We have to decide which information is accurate and what is lies. A daunting task. As a parent and grandparent, I cannot understand how one would place their need for ‘safety’ over the known and unknown risk to children of these ‘vaccines’. Truly selfish motives, I guess.

    • Gerry,
      I see you’re still buying into the cases counts bs.

      Kary Mullis (the inventor) on PCR testing:
      https://youtu.be/ZmZft4fXhQQ

      The CDC is discontinuing the PCR test because it can’t detect difference between covid and influenza.
      https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dls/locs/2021/07-21-2021-lab-alert-Changes_CDC_RT-PCR_SARS-CoV-2_Testing_1.html

      https://bpa-pathology.com/covid19-pcr-tests-are-scientifically-meaningless/

      Now after reading all that you should realize that the PCR test does not really mean anything. Symptoms mean something it means something is wrong, but since we can’t test for covid you don’t really know what that child or person is sick with.

      Now think of where all of the testing is happening… Schools. So that’s where you’re going to find cases that don’t exist.

      Last I knew Vermont was still running that PCR test at 42 cycles which out of Kary Mullis’s own mouth says that you anything over 36 cycles you can find any virus or DNA particles in the world in any sample.

      Take some time to look and see the amount of harm that has already been caused to children based upon this vaccine in the cdc’s own reporting data. Then look at the flu numbers and realize that there was no flu last year and yet the numbers for covid are slightly less than the flu.

      • Thank you Brian! Good information!

        Many have raised this issue over the past year and a half with seemingly, no changes.
        It makes so much sense!

        If they are over-cycling the COVID Tests, how many tests are false positives?

      • Brian. I briefly looked at 2 of the references you provided. I am not sure why CDC is ending its EUA for the current PCR. I will look into this. I have run PCR reactions as part of a laboratory course in Recombinant DNA Technology that I was the instructor for. To get amplification of a target sequence you need a “complementary primer” (at the DNA level you may remember A goes with T and G goes with C). In most cases you can find a unique primer so that unwanted hybridization with “foreign” sequences and amplification does not occur. Professionals will (or should) always run positive and negative controls so that they feel comfortable that any amplification that is detected is valid (early on CDC had real problems with this). The issue with influenza: I think, but do not know for certain, that CDC is not saying the COVID PCR can be positive with the influenza virus. I think with the upcoming flu season CDC would like to have a test that can detect whether a sample contains SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus, or both. Kary Mullins was certainly an interesting person and had many interesting opinions. It is true that running a PCR beyond a certain number of cycles calls into question the value of the test but, speaking from experience, I know these tests do work as described if the reagents are good and the test is done properly. Finally are all COVID PCR test results obtained true positives or true negatives? Given the enormous number of tests being run using samples collected by thousands of different individuals who have to collect nasopharyngeal swabs with some level of consistency, I personally believe the accuracy is less than 100%. How much less I cannot say. I hope this helps, but I understand if you still have “doubts”.

      • I believe what you’re really getting into there in the beginning of your reply is calibration. This test was not calibrated because they never had live samples to calibrate it with. Quite a few people around the globe have won court cases against the governments because no one’s had a live sample of the virus. The FDA when asked for the foia request said the CDC had the live sample. The CDC in one area will tell you that they were able to retrieve a live virus from the first person who came into Washington that was sick. However that document was not available early on and early on foia requests said that they did not (sketchy at best).

        As for the influenza versus covid, there was a doctor out in California who doubled up his samples so that he could check the samples to find out whether they contained influenza or covid or both. Out of 1500 samples all that were positive contained influenza a or b. (Please keep in mind some of the stuff has been erased from the internet and it’s no longer easy to find or for me to point you to, further making rational discussions like this difficult).

        As far as the actual accuracy it’s my understanding that it’s only slightly better than tossing a coin. Which in my opinion would give you no useful data at all.

        I would like to say thank you for responding with a rational statement and attempting to find common ground if you will. It’s a skill many have lost.

        I would also like you to ask yourself about the events that have occurred over the last four or five years. Are these events normal? Have the government and corporations reactions been rational? Has the government attempted to entice people with every vice known to man? Have they used the people’s money in ways that help the people or that helped the corporations?

        Now that you’ve thought through that a little bit ask yourself if you’re trying to rationalize it all or if you truly believe they’re telling you the truth?

      • Why doe No One get the Facts . The Jabbed People are The ones Dying . It is Beyond Brain Damaged to Dream Jabbing the Children would Help . We Have Real Info coming out from People working in VT . Government Stats are BS , Under Reporting to he VAERS Data Base is Huge .Governor Scott is in Lock Step , with Joker Joe . The Lying Clown President .

  5. Leftists Cordes, Till and Sosin have no cred here. Stand your ground and don’t waffle, Gov. Scott. Be a real Republican this time.

  6. Have any of these lawmakers saying the vaccine isn’t working informed Let’s go Brandon, who is threatening peoples livelihoods if they don’t get the vaccine, which according to these lawmakers, isn’t working. Just can’t make this stuff up!

  10. Masks are emotional support only. Look up the factual scientific studies that existed before Covid.
    Viral droplets are minuscule and pass through masks.

    Masks work to appease the fearful and overly emotional adults. Masks are also good for politicians, because they give the appearance the politicians are doing something.

    Masks ALL DAY on our school children is child abuse and very unhealthy. Masks collect germs and bacteria and limit healthy breathing. They also limit our children from basic learning and interacting.

    Human beings function by breathing in fresh air, and we remove carbon dioxide from our bodies by breathing out stale air.

    Is the pretense and theater of wearing masks making us sick? Can carbon dioxide build up cause symptoms, such as fatigue, headache, and loss of concentration?

    If mask mandates work, where is the evidence?

  11. I agree ,where is the evidence masks prevent infection, washing your hands is more important to save your life than masks.

  13. There are thousands of illegals pouring into the USA. There are thousands of homeless citizens living on the streets. Human trafficking ring allegedly uncovered in Rutland. The sickness is people ignoring the obvious destruction of our society, ignoring the construction of a two-tiered justice system, ignoring the child and elder abuse going on before our eyes every day. Runaway inflation and soaring energy costs. Yet, the headlines continue to blare about a virus that was created, manufactured, and funded by our own government. Dr. Fauci is a war criminal and should be executed by injection of his own Jim Jones Juice including his AZT. The CDC and pharmacutical companies are liable and guilty of countless counts of murder and maiming countless people around the world. Where is the line in the sand people? Are we going to continue entertaining and paying any regard to these bureaucrats and politicians who are obviously CORRUPT and GUILTY of crimes agains humanity? Good God people – WAKE UP!

  14. “I don’t think a vaccination is working.” – RN and Rep. Mari Cordes There fixed it vou, Mari. You’re welcome.

  15. I’m sorry, Rep. Mari Cordes, but if that’s a photo of you, you don’t look very healthy to me and I’m not taking any medical advice from you. No offense intended, but let’s be honest – you’re extremely obese.

    So my advice to you is to learn to look after your own health, get in better shape, then come back to the table with some suggestions as to how the rest of us should live our lives. Deal?