Time now for the Friday press briefing on this 7th of May. We'll be hearing from the governor, the secretary of education, the secretary of human services, and the health commissioner today. #vtpoli #vted #covid19vt

Scott begins the briefing by expressing his appreciation for health care workers, specifically nurses, on the occasion of nurse appreciation day. Says the best way to show your support for health care officials is to get vaccinated.

Mentions a few walk-in clinics this weekend at Bear Ridge and Devils Bowl speedways. At Bear Ridge, if you get vaccinated you can stay for the race for free or get a voucher for free admission to a later race.

Scott says the state is on target to meet its goals for reopening, but "we really need" those age 18-30 to get vaccinated in order to stay on pace.

Secretary French starts his education update on mute. #relatable.

French says the state is starting a pilot program this spring to offer COVID testing to students age 8 and above. Will test up to 6300 students in these districts: Burlington, Grand Isle, Orleans Southwest, Caledonia Central, Two Rivers, and Southwest Vermont Technical Center.

The program is expected to be expanded this summer and next fall.

The state also updated guidance for when masks need to be worn by student athletes for outdoor sports. Athletes in low-contact sports will have some situations where masks aren't needed. But masks will still always be needed for medium contact sports.

French says the state has also put out new info about upcoming proms and graduation ceremonies in response to lots of questions. I assume that can be found on the education agency website.

French doesn't have specific data on how many more schools are offering full-time in-person learning, but thinks the trend is toward more of that in-person learning.

Human Services Secretary Mike Smith has an update now. Says as soon as the federal government approves the Pfizer vaccine for those age 12 and up the state will begin administering to that age group. He expects to have more info next week.

Smith is running through some of the walk-in and drive-in clinics around the state over the next few days.

There will be vaccine clinics at food assistance locations as well, Smith says.

360,200 people in Vermont have gotten vaccinated, including 255,300 who have received all necessary doses of the vaccine.

Smith says May is a very busy month for awareness. And he wants to take a moment to recognize those who are struggling as well as those who are helping Vermonters in need. He notes today is child care provider day. Thanks those who support our children and families.

It's also nursing week and correctional officer week. He thanks both of those constituencies. Notes that it's also mental health awareness month and he highlights the need to address mental health struggles and stigma. 1 in 5 people in Vermont live with a mental health challenge.

It's also national foster care month, Smith says, a time to appreciate those who help children in need.

Health update with Commissioner Levine now. Says cases are trending well under 100 cases a day. Positivity rate is 1.2%. 17 people are hospitalized, with 4 in the ICU.

"Things are looking better here across Vermont, but our work is certainly not done," Dr. Levine says. Encourages everyone to continue to take precautionary measures while variants are still circulating and as more people get vaccinated.

Levine says the available vaccines are doing a good job, and the variants are not evading the vaccine. Reminds everyone that Vermont's strategy to relax restrictions is based on vaccination rates.

Asks those who've gotten vaccinated to continue to mask when it's appropriate, for a little while longer. Levine also says he's hearing from people who are fearful of "throwing away their masks," and are unsure of the strategy to relax restrictions.

60% of the Vermont population has gotten at least 1 dose and 40% are fully vaccinated. (I'm not sure whether he meant the full population or a percentage of the adult population.)

Levine says the state continues to try to make it easy for people to get vaccinated--walk-ins, drive-ins, popup clinics in places where people are gathering. Says you can find more at http://healthvermont.gov/myvaccine . And says the state is upping its social media game to get the word out.

Speaking to those who have not yet gotten vaccinated, Levine says, "I sincerely doubt you will remain unvaccinated because of lack of opportunity." Says the state is trying to remove any logistical obstacles.

Offers continuing research and information about the success rate of the vaccine in preventing COVID, and says people should feel more confident that this is worthwhile.

Says there's a federal advisory group meeting on Wednesday that will offer a recommendation to the CDC on the Pfizer vaccine and whether it should be made available to those age 12-15.

Says Vermonters with kids in that group can make a profile online now, so they'll be ready to sign them up for an appointment as soon as authorization comes.

And he says there will be a delay in getting some of the vaccination info from the pharmacies for a couple of days because of a federal reporting delay, so that information won't be updated until this weekend.

Question time now.

Calvin Cutler asks at what point the state's plan to reopen could be endangered if young people continue to lag in the vaccination rate.

Scott says the state is trying to take new approaches to get people vaccinated and is continuing that big push and will tweak as it learns more about what's effective and what's not.

Steve Longchamp asks about vacancies in state jobs. Scott says state government is struggling to attract people just as much as every other sector. Says there was a hiring freeze, but not any more and is trying to be flexible about remote work etc.

Scott says it's unlikely all state government workers will return to office jobs. Says the state has learned a lot and has found some efficiencies through this pandemic, and is still working on how to move forward in the most efficient way and in a way that works for workers.

Question about whether people who walk in for a first dose can also walk in for their second dose. Scott reminds that not all of these walk-in clinics are 2-dose clinics. But for those that are, the 2nd dose will be scheduled at the time of the 1st dose.

Smith recommends people go back to the same place where they got their first dose, and do it at the scheduled time, for "flow" reasons.

Q from Stewart Ledbetter about if ppl should get more than 1 type of vaccine. Levine says "wait for the science" on that, that it's "premature for anyone to start mixing and matching", but people are studying that. There's a high level of protection from any one of the vaccines.

Stewart asks the governor if he wants to go see his mom this weekend. The governor reflects on the challenges his mother had to face with three young kids when his father died of complications with injuries he sustained in WWII. Says she was so strong and made it look easy.

Scott says he hasn't seen his mother in person for a year and a half, though they're now both fully vaccinated and he hopes to see her soon. Says his mother tells him she watches all the press conferences so she can see her son's face. He'll be calling her this weekend.

State allocation for the coming week is 19,230 (first) doses of vaccine. There's also about 600 doses for federally qualified health centers, and then about 5000 doses to the federal pharmacy program, adding up to about 25,000. State is thinking about asking for more if needed.

Question about corporate tax rates for the new fiscal year. Scott says he's hopeful the legislature will pass something so that the business community won't get stuck going to Schedule 5. Clock is ticking on when decisions have to be made.

Scott says closing the online system for filing for unemployment has reduced the amount of fraud the state is seeing, though it has also slowed down processing time. Says state is learning more about how to prevent fraud, still needs to update the aging UI infrastructure.

Scott is asked if he supports legislation sponsored by Randy Brock that would make unemployment fraud a felony. Scott says he does support the idea, doesn't think the bill will pass this year.

Also thinks it would be difficult to prosecute people who are making fraudulent claims from not just outside Vermont but outside the country.

Greg from the County Courier is asking about staffing levels at one of the state police barracks, wants to know if the governor knows how many vacancies there are and why he can't get that info.

Public Safety Commissioner Michael Schirling says his department has given Greg a clear path to getting that information and he just needs to follow the directions they've given him.

Greg also wonders if state police is purposefully not sending press releases for some felony arrests. Schirling, clearly annoyed, says he doesn't think the VSP has neglected to send out any press releases, but if Greg wants to send details, Schirling will take a look.

Erin Petenko asks about primary care providers offering vaccines. Scott and Smith say independent providers will increasingly be able to get doses. Challenges with storage capacity and how many doses are packaged together, exceeding the demand at small independent providers.

Question from Chris Roy about restrictions and how the state will verify that people are following state guidelines around things like when people are supposed to group together in one household, how will it be verified that they actually live in the same household.

On verifying that people are following rules, Levine and Scott say the state's approach throughout the pandemic has been to trust Vermonters to do the right thing.

But Scott asks Secretary Kurrle to talk about the Vermont Forward plan because he wants to make sure the media and the public understand the guidelines and restrictions. You can find details here: https://www.vermont.gov/vermont-forward#gsc.tab=0

Scott says about 5 of the 30 bills that have arrived at his desk so far have been COVID-related.

Scott says he thinks the legislature can return to the Statehouse, if they want, after his emergency order is lifted, and he would like to see them do so (though that's not something he can control).

Says people's voices aren't being heard because of the--necessary--move to remote, and he hopes in-person legislative work will be able to return as soon as possible.

Interestingly (to me), several of the more hard boiled reporters on the call today (all men) have gotten sappy about Mother's Day, extending their greetings to the governor's mother and thanking her for having him.

We may see vaccine clinics at county fairs in late summer or fall, Scott says. Though the hope is to have high vaccination levels by then.

Guy Page asks about the significantly low rates of flu over the most recent flu season around the world. Asks what the governor makes of this, and if it's possible that flu cases are being misdiagnosed as COVID, or if the COVID precautions are also preventing flu.

Scott and Levine say flu has been prevented by masking but also other preventive measures. (Neither one addresses the misdiagnosis question, but that doesn't seem likely, since both flu and COVID can be tested for.)

Question about doses being wasted at the pharmacies in the federal pharmacy program. Levine says the data does not show that doses are being wasted in VT. Says the wastage rate is extremely low here.

. @lseconnors asks if the state has reached out to offer pop-up vaccine clinics at workplaces that have lots of employees, or to group workers from different companies together. Scott says yes, administration is actively reaching out to employers.

Scott says numbers are going down in Canada, but he hasn't heard any updates in the last few weeks on plans to open the border or what that might look like in terms of requirements. But he would be comfortable with the border reopening, with certain restrictions.

Question from Mike Dougherty if the press briefings will change, and if reporters will be encouraged to attend in person. Scott says administration is considering reducing the number of briefings to 1 a week, and will allow more reporters in according to state guidelines.

Scott says he's really enjoyed being able to engage with more members of the press than just the statehouse press corps, and hopes to find a way to continue. ME: I really hope @GovPhilScott and @RKelleyComms will continue offering a call-in option or other form of access!

Questions about Burlington High School, which has been closed because of high levels of PCBs. Read more here: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2021/05/04/burlington-school-board-votes-to-abandon-pcb-contaminated-high-school

Smith says there could be information forthcoming next week updating the vaccine eligibility.

That's it! But if you're at loose ends after the press briefing, or reading this thread, I'll offer a self-promotional plug for two great events I was a part of this week!

First, a fascinating panel of local experts talking about climate change in our region, put on by the @FairbanksMuseum.