MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont is officially expanding COVID-19 booster eligibility to all adults as some other states have done, Gov. Phil Scott said Wednesday.
While Scott and other Vermont state officials have encouraged most adults to get boosters despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s criteria, the governor said Wednesday that the state will remove the longer list of criteria for boosters on its registration website, simplify the registration process and take walk-ins at state-run vaccination clinics as part the universal booster program.
Over the last 30 days, while COVID-19 cases have increased in low-risk age groups, cases have dropped by about 2.5% in Vermonters ages 65 and older, Scott said.
“This is evidence that boosters are working to both keep cases lower in the at-risk age groups and, by further protecting the most at risk, they reduce hospitalizations,” the governor said in a written statement. “At this point, we need to shift to getting everyone boosted to help reduce the disruption of higher cases and minimize transmission to at-risk Vermonters, particularly through the winter months.”
People who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are eligible two months after their first dose, and those who received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine are eligible six months after their second dose.
Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas and West Virginia have also expanded booster eligibility to all adults. Maine’s governor announced Wednesday that the state was doing the same.
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