About 11,000 Vermonters, a third of those in the 70-or-over age group, registered to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the first few hours they were being allowed to make appointments, state officials said Tuesday.
In the first 15 minutes after the call-center began taking calls Tuesday morning, it was overwhelmed by more than 7,000 calls. The state was encouraging people to make appointments online.
Officials said they expected the phone backlog to ease after the initial surge and eligible people will be able to make appointments.
Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said officials expect to be able to move through the 70 and over age group “fairly quickly” and then turn to the 65 and over group.
“It’s clear we are now in a race,” Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said during the regular twice-weekly virus briefing.
The race requires that Vermonters continue to work to contain the virus by adhering to public health guidance, such as avoiding crowded indoor spaces, multi-household gatherings, maintaining physical distancing and wearing masks.
“The other participant in the race is the vaccine,” Levine said. “As has been stated and has been reinforced today, more vaccine is on the way.”
Combined with a drop in the number of new cases and deaths and an increasing number of people being vaccinated, state officials are expected to announce later this week upcoming steps to ease travel restrictions and other measures that will allow more social interaction and, eventually, a return to larger gatherings, Levine said.
“All of this awaits over a period of time, certainly through the spring and summer, if we can all just continue on the present course of lowering active cases through the adherence to the usual guidance and making our appointments for vaccine when our group is called,” Levine said.
In other pandemic-related developments:
SCHOOL MUSIC
Vermont is planning to permit more music activities in the state’s public schools.
“As in the case with most of our school activities it will not be music as normal but with some restrictions,” said Education Secretary Dan French during the governor’s twice-weekly virus briefing on Friday. The state plans to publish guidance this week, he said.
All performers will be required to have a 6-by-6-foot (2 meter-by-2 meter) distance around them at all times, and for trombone players the distance required will be 6-by-9 foot (2 meter-by-2.7 meter), French said.
The players of woodwind and brass instruments must wear masks with a small slit for the mouth piece and when they are not playing they must wear a non-slitted mask over that one, French said. Those instruments will be required to have a multi-layer bell cover with a middle layer consisting of particular filter material.
Rehearsals will be restricted to 30 minutes and the air in those spaces will be required to have three exchanges per hour, he said.
(Copyright (c) 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)