Scott shares ‘secret’ of success

By Patrick Mcardle
Staff Writer
Gov. Phil Scott and members of his administration said on Tuesday said they have been contacted by other states asking about the “secret” to the Green Mountain State’s vaccine success.

Of adults eligible for vaccination, 82.4% have gotten one or both shots, as of Tuesday.

Scott said it was tough to say what was different about Vermont, but said it seemed as if some of the response “was based on politics from the very beginning.”

“I’m not sure everything we do here in Vermont would necessarily work in another state. All the pieces of the puzzle have to fit together,” he said.

Scott talked about leaders gaining the trust of the people in their community.

While Scott never mentioned the words “president” or “Trump,” he talked about the problem starting with the “previous administration” and the “hesitancy of communicating that this was a real issue.

Scott added “anti-masking” and the suggestion that “this COVID is going to be over in a couple months,” to the list.

“It just started then, and it went downhill from there. So, we didn’t have that here in this state. I owe that to the people of Vermont. It wasn’t anything that we did,” he said.

Dr. Mark Levine, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health, said more than 75% of hospital-associated primary-care practices and two-thirds of independent primary-care practices had been enrolled in a program to deliver vaccines to eligible patients.

“This is important because studies have shown that a doctor’s strong recommendation is closely correlated with vaccination. Some people, who have not yet been vaccinated, say they would be more likely to do so if the vaccine were offered to them during a routine medical visit,” he said.

Levine said staff at the health department and in the governor’s office were making calls and sending correspondence asking how other areas could improve their vaccination rates.

“Yet, even with our success, we are concerned about that last less than 18% of eligible Vermonters who have yet to be vaccinated. First of all, this is no longer about herd immunity and we know that from the science and the current case count and statistics. But it is about sincerely wanting the best health for those unvaccinated persons,” Levine said.

Based on survey data, Levine said health officials believe less than 5% of those who haven’t been vaccinated are strongly resistant or vaccine skeptics.

Michael Pieciak, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, said 2,500 Vermoners had been vaccinated since last week, leaving about 97,000 who are eligible but haven’t gotten a vaccine shot.

For more than 25 days in a row, new COVID cases in Vermont have been in the single digits, Pieciak added.

Vermont reported 190 cases of COVID and three deaths for June.

Pieciak said state officials are forecasting no more than three deaths in July.

Scott said he had recently participated in a call between governors and the White House. He said Dr. Anthony Fauci, direction of the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases, told the group that the Delta variant of COVID was the source of about half of the COVID cases in the U.S. but added the existing vaccines seem to be effective against it.

Scott said federal officials also talked about their strategy for reaching out to those who have not yet been vaccinated.

“Which sounded exactly like the strategy we used over the last few months which is good news if they follow on that playbook,” he said.

‘’”Being the most vaccinated state in the country has built up a line of defense for Vermont but as we’ve said, we’re not resting on our laurels. There’s still time to protect yourself if you haven’t done so yet. There’s still a shot waiting for you. It’s never too late,” Scott said.

patrick.mcardle @rutlandherald.com