Vermonters 65+ start signing up for COVID vaccinations

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) - Some 42,000 Vermonters 65 and older could start signing up for their coronavirus vaccinations on Monday. It comes as Vermont marks 100,000 people who have received at least one shot.

Like with the other age bands, the first day of sign-ups was predictably busy. But state leaders are encouraged by the numbers as new vaccines are hitting the shelves this week.

In the first two hours, the state penciled in some 15,000 appointments for Vermonters 65+. A relatively smoother rollout than in weeks past, in part, leaders said, because people created their accounts ahead of time.

“I think that probably made things easier for people if they took that step because once you have your account set up, you can go in and schedule your appointment,” said Kelly Dougherty, the deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health.

On top of that, Vermont is picking up a new weapon in the fight against the pandemic-- the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine got the greenlight over the weekend.

State leaders will release the exact details of the rollout on Tuesday but the pharmaceutical company is working to distribute some 20 million doses nationally.

The shot has an efficacy rate of 72% which is less than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

But Dr. Tim Lahey, an infectious disease expert at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine, said it’s still incredibly effective.

“What we really care about in this pandemic is stopping people from dying and having to be hospitalized and this vaccine is really good at doing that,” Lahey said.

The Johnson & Johnson clinical trial was conducted on three continents while there were more infectious variants and there were no hospitalizations or deaths in any of the studies.

“The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was studied at a time when variants which more resistant to vaccines were more common, but they got a result that wasn’t quite as good but may have been if Pfizer and Moderna were tested at the same time,” Lahey said.

And with its single-shot format and not having to be kept at a lower temperature as Moderna and Pfizer, it has other benefits as well.

Providers say the new vaccine has the potential to reach rural parts of the state.

“The ability to push it further into the rural areas and have more flexibility with how to store it makes things a bit more simpler and takes additional barriers out of the way of getting it to Vermonters,” said Jonathan Billings of Northwestern Medical Center.

State leaders will roll out the exact details of how the new vaccine will be distributed and how much we will get at their regular pandemic news briefing on Tuesday.

On the age band front, the health department estimates we’ll move onto the 18-65 with underlying conditions later this month.

For those 65 and older, you can click here to register online or call 855-722-7878.

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