MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont is expected to receive about 6,000 doses initially of the first coronavirus vaccine once it’s approved for emergency use by the federal Food and Drug Administration, state health officials said.
FDA officials will meet to review the Pfizer vaccine Thursday, and it could be authorized almost immediately.
Vermont is expecting to get 5,800 doses per week for the initial three-week rollout, but the number could change, Deputy Health Commissioner Kelly Dougherty told Vermont Public Radio.
A Moderna vaccine will also be reviewed by the FDA later this month, and both vaccines require two doses a few weeks apart. When the first shots are available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that health care workers and nursing home patients get priority.
The state is prioritizing health care workers, Dougherty said, “particularly those that have patient contact in in-patient settings … and those in high-risk settings.”
Vermont has about 17,756 workers in that initial group, which includes people who work in intensive care units and emergency departments, first responders and staffers at long-term care facilities.
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NUMBERS
Over the weekend, Vermont crossed the threshold of 5,000 cases of people with the virus that causes COVID-19.
On Monday, the state reported 65 new cases, bringing the total to 5,080 since the pandemic began.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Vermont has risen over the past two weeks from 108 on Nov. 22 to 112.86 on Dec. 6.
The latest average positivity rate in Vermont is 2.41%. State health departments are calculating positivity rate differently across the country, but for Vermont the AP calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test specimens using data from The COVID Tracking Project.
The seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Vermont has risen over the past two weeks from 1.81% on Nov. 22 to 2.41% on Dec. 6.
Currently there are 26 people hospitalized with COVID-19, including six patients in intensive care.
The state also reported two more COVID-19 fatalities, bringing the statewide total to 81.
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