Boosters In NEK

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Created on Wednesday, 03 November 2021 21:39

Written by Hailey Morgan

ST. JOHNSBURY - As cases have risen over several weeks in the state of Vermont, the Phil Scott administration continues to encourage Vermonters to get their booster shots. Although many have already received their booster shot, in the Northeast Kingdom alone the positivity rate is much higher than other areas of the state. Here in Caledonia County, there are over six vaccination sites to choose from. After visiting the Green Mountain Mall, patients give their feedback about getting their boosters.

The Green Mountain Mall vaccination clinic run by Northern Vermont Regional Hospital has been giving out vaccines since the start of the pandemic. Starting on the 20th, they began administering boosters. Upon arrival, patients are asked what shot they are looking to get, and the majority expecting to get their booster are over the age of 65.

Many patients entering the clinic have not mixed, but rather matched their booster due to health care workers in the clinic matching the patient's booster to the original vaccine they first received.

The clinic is being supplied with over 450 doses of Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J a week. Within the first week of receiving vaccinations they had already vaccinated over 200 people. Bonnie Jenkins decided to get her booster shot because her daughter is a healthcare provider, and has been encouraging her to get her shots since the beginning of the pandemic.

The majority of her children and grandchildren have all received their vaccinations as well, this is just another way to keep her family safe. "My other daughter works for Bucks County Health in Pennsylvania. Part of her work involves people early on of covid, and she's very adamant that we take care of ourselves and everybody else."

Crystal Fox decided to get her booster shot because she wants to make sure her husband does not get covid-19 "My husband is 89, and we are not taking any chances." Fox believes this is the only way the pandemic is ever going to get any better.

After speaking with Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rousse at NVRH, he says this area of the state needs to focus on getting vaccinated. "For some reason the Northeast Kingdom is kind of a hotbed for covid. I can't answer why, other than we are not being as careful as we should." Dr. Rousse also shared that boosters are critical because antibody levels in peoples blood for covid 19 go down after four months of being vaccinated.

Dr. Rousse believes that this infectious disease will never go away, but with vaccinations there is going to be a level of control that keeps people safe. He shares that antibody levels rise sixty five times higher after the booster is administered, and it is very important that our elderly keep getting their boosters. "The death rate for elderly is quite a bit higher compared to children.

In fact a 200-300 fold," Rousse explains. Rousse believes the next step for the state is vaccinating younger generations so we can stop transmission to our older generations. Due to the abundance of covid cases in the NEK the Phil Scott administration will be setting up booster vaccination sites offering Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J starting this week. You can visit vermont.force.com to make your appointment.