Editorials

Rutland Herald/Times Argus Good news

Were those high winds that ripped across the region actually the winds of change?

In a day, we seemed to have been faced with a news cycle that provided optimism for the coming months. It was welcome news on a frigid day.

President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adult Americans by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved vaccine.

With the bolstered supply, Biden also announced he would use the powers of the federal government to direct all states to prioritize vaccinating teachers. Also, he said the federal government would provide the doses directly through its pharmacy program. He challenged states to administer at least one dose of the vaccine to all teachers by the end of March as part of his administration’s efforts to reopen more schools across the nation.

In turn, Vermont officials announced Tuesday that teachers, child care workers and older Vermonters with high-risk health conditions can start signing up for a vaccine appointment starting next Monday.

According to reporter Eric Blaisdell’s account of the governor’s news conference Tuesday, the state is ready to ramp up its vaccination efforts with the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson receiving emergency-use authorization from the FDA over the weekend, as well as more doses from Pfizer and Moderna.

On March 15, Vermonters 16 years old and older with high-risk health conditions can sign up to get vaccinated. Those conditions include current cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, heart disease, a weakened immune system, severe obesity, pregnancy and diabetes.

Vermont is opening vaccinations to anyone who works inside a school building or has contact with students, such as coaches. Educators at private schools and early childhood educators are eligible as well.

The president said his goal is for every pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade educator, school staff member and child care worker to receive at least one shot by the end of March.

To achieve this, Biden announced qualifying individuals will be able to sign up this month to be vaccinated at a pharmacy near them. Biden said while schools are safe to reopen even before staff members have been vaccinated, “time and again, we’ve heard from educators and parents that have anxieties about that,” so to “accelerate” the safe reopening, teachers should be prioritized.

As Gov. Scott noted, the announcement comes as the White House looks to speed the production of the single-dose J&J vaccine and accelerate the nation’s plans to reach “herd immunity” in the U.S. and begin returning to normal life after the pandemic. Biden said the vaccine supply was only one bottleneck toward that goal, and the new challenge will deliver doses into arms as swiftly as possible.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration told Scott and his fellow governors to prepare for their supplies of vaccine to continue to climb during the coming weeks. Moreover, additional doses are heading toward a federally backed program to administer doses in more accessible retail pharmacies.

The administration has promised states there is more vaccine in the pipeline. Previously, federal officials have cautioned that setting up the highly specialized manufacturing lines to produce vaccines would take months.

The White House said Merck would devote two plants to the production process. One would make the vaccine and the other would handle inserting the vaccine into vials and ensuring strict quality controls. The Biden administration was using its powers under the Defense Production Act to help Merck retool to work on the production.

According to the Associated Press, in the scramble to create COVID-19 vaccines, the three Western drug makers who’ve dominated the vaccine industry for decades — Merck & Co., Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline — surprisingly all fell short.

Regardless of the blips of the past, the news offers a bit of relief. Across the world, people suffer from COVID fatigue. And there have been mounting concerns about what the long-term effects of the pandemic would be — especially on young people who have not been able to attend school in-person.

We join the chorus wanting the economy to restart, and for there to be some semblance of normal once again. It will still take time, but at least yesterday’s news felt more like light at the end of a tunnel and not another oncoming disaster.

This editorial first appeared in the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus and the Rutland Herald on March 2.

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