With residency rule lifted, Dartmouth plans vaccine clinics

By Holly Ramer And Lisa Rathke
Associated Press
All U.S. adults are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. To register for a vaccine appointment in New Hampshire, please visit vaccines.nh.gov or call 2-1-1. To register for a vaccine appointment in Vermont, please visit healthvermont.gov or call (855) 722-7878.

Here are the latest developments regarding the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic throughout New England:

New HampshireDartmouth College plans to host vaccination clinics on campus now that the state has lifted its residency requirements for the COVID-19 vaccine.

As of Monday, anyone age 16 or older is eligible for the vaccine in New Hampshire regardless of where they live. Dartmouth plans to partner with the state to open vaccination clinics starting the week of May 3, officials said in a message to faculty, students and staff.

The college is planning to increase access to campus facilities and ease travel restrictions on a rolling basis through the summer and into the fall, officials said. Last week, Provost Joseph Helble announced that all students coming to campus in September will be required to be vaccinated.

Partially remote schedules: Some New Hampshire schools have started their first full week of in-person instruction in more than a year, though waivers allowed eight districts to maintain at least partially remote schedules.

Gov. Chris Sununu had ordered all public K-12 schools to begin offering in-person education five days per week by Monday. According to the Department of Education, a dozen districts requested waivers because of staffing shortages or other issues.

Eight waivers have been granted to the following districts or individual schools: Keene, Manchester, Milton, MicroSociety Academy, Mills Falls Charter School, The Monarch School, Kreiva Academy and the Birch Tree Center.

The numbers: More than 91,000 people have tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, including 235 cases announced Monday. No new deaths were announced, keeping the total at 1,270.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in New Hampshire decreased over the past two weeks, going from 403 new cases per day on April 3 to 390 new cases per day on Saturday.

VermontVermont is seeing a steady drop in COVID-19 cases and a strong rate of people getting vaccinated, state officials said Tuesday, making them optimistic about the future and a more normal summer than last year’s.

The seven-day average number of cases has dropped 39% since April 1 and 24% in the last week, according Michael Pieciak, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, who has been monitoring the COVID-19 statistics during the pandemic.

Vermont also has among the highest rate in the country of people aged 65 and older getting vaccinated, at 93%, and is in the top 10 of states in the amount of shots given and the percentage of the population that is fully vaccinated, he said.

“We estimate that 120 lives have been saved by the vaccine to date here in Vermont, totaling about half of all the COVID-19 fatalities we’ve experienced to date, all because of these powerful vaccines and because Vermonters are willing to get vaccinated,” Pieciak said.

Cases are falling fast among the younger populations in Vermont that were thought to be driving the spread of the coronavirus at the end of March, Pieciak said. They just became eligible for vaccines so vaccinations are not the reason for the decline, Pieciak said.

“It seems much more likely that the decrease is due to behavioral changes whether it’s being more cautious, following the public health guidance, spending more time outdoors but we do want to thank younger Vermonters for helping slow the spread as we continue to work to get vaccines to those who are more vulnerable and also request that they keep it up,” he said.

In the northeast region, cases are down about 10%, with New York, Quebec, Canada, and all New England states — except for Maine — seeing a drop in the last week, according to state data.

“Generally this is the first clear sign we’ve had in weeks that the COVID-19 situation is starting to improve in the states that surround Vermont as well, which will certainly be helpful to us in the upcoming weeks and months,” Pieciak said.

To date, 40% of people ages 16 to 29 in Vermont have made appointments to be vaccinated, said Deputy Human Services Secretary Jenney Samuelson. As of Tuesday, more than 295,100 people have been vaccinated in Vermont, with more than 201,300 receiving their first and last dose of the vaccine.

“We have made remarkable progress here in Vermont. Vermonters are known to stick together through difficult times and this is just another example of our extraordinary resilience and dedication to doing the right thing,” Samuelson said.

Vaccines: Vermont has opened up COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all residents ages 16 and older.

Registration for this final age segment opened Monday morning. High school students ages 16 to 18 were allowed to make vaccine appointments a few days earlier, on Saturday. Last week, Vermonters aged 30 and older were eligible to make appointments.

“It is remarkable and exciting how far we’ve come,” said Human Services Secretary Mike Smith Friday, during the governor’s twice-weekly virus briefing.

A year ago, the state had limited testing capability and now has one of the most robust in the country, he said. The state had no vaccine a few months ago and since then has vaccinated over half of all Vermonters in a relatively short period of time, he said.