MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The group representing Vermont hospitals says uncertainty about the amount of COVID-19 vaccines they will receive is prompting delays in administering those vaccines.
In a Wednesday news release, The Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, which represents the state’s 14 nonprofit hospitals, says hospitals have routinely experienced delays in the arrival of doses. They have also received fewer doses than expected.
Conversely, there have also been cases where vaccine vials have contained more doses of vaccine than expected.
“We have a population that is eager to be vaccinated and we’ll need ongoing patience and support to continue making progress,” said association President Jeff Tieman.
Despite the challenges, Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine says the state ranks seventh in the nation for the percentage of doses received that have been administered.
The first phase of Vermont’s vaccine program has focused on health care workers and people living in long-term care facilities. After that the state plans to distribute the vaccines based on age, with the next group focusing on people 75 and older, and Vermonters with underlying medical conditions that put them at higher risk of complications or death from COVID-19.
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NUMBERS
On Wednesday, the Vermont Health Department reported 106 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19, bringing the statewide total since the pandemic began to almost 8,160.
There are currently 33 people hospitalized with the virus, including six in intensive care.
The number of deaths reported Wednesday rose by three to 152.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Vermont has risen over the past two weeks from 97.86 new cases per day on Dec. 22 to 119.43 new cases per day on Jan. 5.
The latest average positivity rate in Vermont is 2.58%. 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 1.95% on Dec. 22 to 2.58% on Jan. 5.
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