Seniors Are Next to Get Vaccine in Vermont, Leaving Essential Workers Waiting

VTDigger says the state of Vermont will prioritize senior residents for COVID-19 vaccination over frontline workers. The federal vaccine advisory group's recommendations call for the next round of doses to go to both essential workers and older Americans. However, Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine claimed that the federal guidance was overly ambitious, while the state's is more realistic and will ultimately prevent the most vulnerable residents from dying of COVID. He emphasized that "essential workers" could constitute up to 85 percent of Vermont's workforce, while even frontline workers account for a "huge number of people." Levine said Vermont is "trying to balance the science and the data . . . about who's been most adversely impacted by this virus, and a clear priority from the top down to save lives." Vergennes Union High School teacher Angela Burke Kunkel questions this policy, saying "I don't understand how the state can prioritize keeping schools open, yet not prioritize vaccinating teachers." Anne Sosin at the Dartmouth Center for Global Health Equity said the debate over who should be prioritized for inoculation is going on across the United States. "It will be really important to ensure that that population that's most exposed is prioritized in the next phases of vaccination," she explained.