MONTPELIER — The Vermont Department of Health was flooded with phone calls Tuesday morning as COVID-19 vaccination scheduling began for people ages 70 and over.
In the first 15 minutes of opening for that age group, the department received 7,000 calls, according to a news release. The state previously had focused vaccination efforts on those 75 and older, as well as health care workers, emergency medical providers and people in long-term care facilities.
Given the call volume, the department asks that people schedule their appointments online at healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine.
There are enough appointments for everyone in the age group, the release said.
Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said officials expect to be able to move through the 70 and over age group “fairly quickly” and then turn to the 65 and over group.
“It’s clear we are now in a race,” Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said during state officials’ regular twice-weekly virus briefing Tuesday.
The race requires that Vermonters continue to work to contain the virus by adhering to public health guidance, such as avoiding crowded indoor spaces, multi-household gatherings, maintaining physical distancing and wearing masks.
“The other participant in the race is the vaccine,” Levine said. “As has been stated and has been reinforced today, more vaccine is on the way.”
As of Tuesday morning, 14% of Vermonters over the age of 16 had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state’s vaccine dashboard. Vermont had administered 115,700 doses with 37,500 people having received both required doses. In the Upper Valley, more than 6,500 people in Windsor County and 3,300 in Orange County have received at least one dose.
In New Hampshire, officials have given out more than 208,500 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and nearly 61,700 Granite Staters have received both doses, according to a vaccine tracker by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SOUTH ROYALTON — School officials have identified additional cases of COVID-19 affecting White River Valley schools.
White River Valley High School, which along with the related middle school and elementary school shifted to remote learning last week, has five cases of COVID-19, according to the Vermont Department of Health’s list of school cases.
Leaders of the preK-12 White River Valley School, which has campuses in Bethel and South Royalton, first made the shift to remote learning last Thursday after identifying one positive case.
Officials at Randolph Elementary School identified a second case there on Thursday afternoon, so students there also are learning remotely through this week, according to a message to families from Layne Millington, Orange Southwest School District superintendent.
“Many of the events that have caused our schools to close were preventable,” Millington said in his message.
He noted that play dates and sleepovers aren’t supposed to take place and if they do, those involved are required to quarantine; non-essential travel outside of Vermont requires quarantine; adults are required to maintain a 6-foot distance on school grounds; and people with flu-like or respiratory symptoms or who have lost their sense of taste or smell are asked not to come to school until cleared to do so by a school nurse.
Students at Randolph Elementary School, as well as both campuses of the White River Valley School are expected to return for in-person learning on March 3, following the February vacation.
Newport Middle School is scheduled to reopen for in-person learning on Wednesday following the completion of contact tracing for a COVID-19 case there, according to a post on the district’s Facebook page.
Thetford Academy reported a recent COVID-19 case in a member of the school community. The person was not in close contact with anyone else on campus during their infectious period and therefore the case required no change to school operations, Carrie Brennan, TA’s head of school, said in an email.
MANCHESTER — Amid the increase in isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinics in Manchester and Bedford, N.H., have launched a new postpartum depression screening program for mothers of newborns, according to a D-H news release.
The screening, which will take place at two-week, two-month, four-month and six-month newborn pediatric visits, will ask new mothers to respond to a questionnaire based on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale using a secure tablet device.
If the screening results are positive, the pediatrician will ask the mother whether she has spoken about her mental health with her own provider and whether she is receiving mental health treatment. If not, the pediatrician will refer the mother to a local provider.
The postpartum screening is beginning in D-H’s practices with the most pediatric visits, spokeswoman Audra Burns said in an email. Eventually, the Lebanon-based health system plans to introduce the screening to all D-H pediatric practices, she said.
Online postpartum depression resources are available online at 2020mom.org and postpartum.net.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
