WEST LEBANON — COVID-19 vaccination efforts continue in the Twin States with both states expanding to include public vaccine clinics at Walgreens pharmacies.
As of Tuesday morning, nearly 12% of Vermonters over the age of 16, or 65,098 people, had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state’s vaccine dashboard. In the Upper Valley, 5,514 people in Windsor County and 2,796 people in Orange County had been vaccinated so far.
Vermont is currently vaccinating people 75 and older, as well as health care providers and residents in long-term care facilities. It then plans to vaccinate people 70 and older and then 65 and older, before moving on to younger people with underlying health conditions that may make them more vulnerable to serious illness should they contract COVID-19.
New Hampshire, which is currently vaccinating people 65 and older as well as medically vulnerable people between 16 and 64, had given out 172,000 doses of vaccine as of Tuesday, said Beth Daly, chief of the New Hampshire Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, during a news conference. That total includes 123,000 first doses and 49,000 second doses, she said, which means 74,000 Granite Staters have had at least one dose.
Vermonters who are eligible can sign up for an appointment and those who are not yet eligible can prepare for vaccination by creating an account in the state’s registration system at healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine. Eligible Vermonters who do not have internet access can call 855-722-7878. Eligible Granite Staters can register for vaccination online at vaccines.nh.gov/ or by calling 211.
Vermont continues to increase vaccination sites, Vermont Agency of Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said during a Tuesday news conference. For example, home health agencies in Windsor County began vaccinating home-bound people age 75 and older last week, and clinics for the public are slated to begin at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph next week, he said.
In addition to Kinney Drugs, which is already offering vaccinations during this phase of the state’s rollout, Vermont will begin partnering with Walgreens to offer vaccinations to the public by the end of this week, Smith said. New Hampshire officials also said Tuesday that they would be partnering with Walgreens as that state’s vaccine rollout continues.
HARTLAND — Two cases of COVID-19 in students at Hartland Elementary School have resulted in quarantines for about 30 students and five employees this week, according to the Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union superintendent.
The students contracted the virus outside of school, said David Baker, the superintendent, in a Tuesday email. The people in quarantine include those in three grade “pods,” he said.
Elsewhere in the Upper Valley, a student at Grantham Village School also tested positive last week, but was not in school during the infectious period so school operations weren’t affected, according to a Friday message from Grantham Superintendent Sydney Leggett.
LEBANON — Dartmouth-Hitchcock is re-launching its virtual series, “Heads Up: Coping Through COVID-19” as the COVID-19 pandemic and associated mental and physical health challenges persist.
The nine-part series begins Wednesday at 4 p.m. with a discussion of the anxiety of contracting COVID-19 and the lingering health effects of the virus. It can be viewed every other Wednesday on D-H’s Facebook page and D-H’s YouTube page.
The first segment will feature Dr. Elizabeth Talbot, deputy New Hampshire state epidemiologist and D-H infectious disease physician; Dr. William Torrey, interim chairman of D-H’s Department of Psychiatry; and Jennifer Saucier, a physical education teacher in Merrimack, N.H., who contracted COVID-19 and continues to deal with health issues.
Future segments are slated to cover topics such as struggles with remote learning and social isolation; ways to stay physically active and mentally healthy in the winter; challenges faced by front-line workers and how to help seniors stay connected.
People can submit questions for in advance of each segment via email to social@hitchcock.org. Each segment will be archived on the D-H Facebook page and available on the D-H YouTube channel. More information about the series is online at https://go.d-h.org/headsup.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
Correction
Vermont is currently vaccinating people 75 and older, as well as health care providers and residents in long-term care facilities. It then plans to vaccinate people 70 and older and then 65 and older before moving on to younger people with underlying health conditions that may make them more vulnerable to serious illness should they contract COVID-19. An earlier version of this story misstated the age cohort who will soon be eligible for shots.
