Vermont’s October infections break pandemic record

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Source: https://www.wcax.com/2021/10/29/vermonts-october-infections-break-pandemic-record/

Vermont’s October infections break pandemic record
By WCAX News Team
Published: Oct. 29, 2021 at 6:36 PM EDT|Updated: 13 hours ago

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Vermont broke another pandemic record Friday. With two days left of reporting in October, the state has already hit a new high for infections in a single month.

With almost 5,700 cases this month, the state beat September’s record case count of 5,200.

Before the delta surge began this summer, Vermonters were already some of the most vaccinated people in the world. How much of a factor did breakthrough cases play in hospitalizations and deaths this fall?

For hospitalizations, numbers from the Vermont Department of Health for August show 28% were breakthroughs, 37% in September, and 48% for the first three weeks of October...

 

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Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/vermo...-rate-country-cases-surging/story?id=81090116

Vermont has the highest vaccination rate in the country. So why are cases surging?
The delta variant is partly to blame.
ByMeredith Deliso
12 November 2021, 05:04

Vermont is one of the most vaccinated states in the country and has served as a model for its COVID-19 response throughout the pandemic. But now, the state is experiencing its worst COVID-19 surge yet, with several factors -- including its own success -- to blame, officials said.

In Vermont, nearly 72% of residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 -- more than any other state, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. At the same time, it has the 12th-highest rate of new COVID-19 cases over the last week, state data released Tuesday shows.

Vermont has seen a "significant" increase in COVID-19 cases in the past week, Mike Pieciak, commissioner of the state's Department of Financial Regulation, said during a press briefing Tuesday.

The seven-day average for COVID-19 cases rose 42% as of Tuesday, according to state data. Vermont does more testing than nearly any other state, though testing only increased 9% during the same period. The statewide positivity rate also increased 30%, with the seven-day average positivity rate just under 4%. The number of new cases increased by nearly 700 in the past week, state officials said Tuesday.

"We just haven't [previously] seen an increase in terms of that raw number of cases during the pandemic," said Pieciak, noting there were just over 2,100 cases reported for the week in Vermont, one of the least-populated states in the country...