On February 16, 2022

Vermont vaccine advisory group quiet on Covid-19 mandates in schools

By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger

On Tuesday morning, Feb. 8, members of the Vermont Immunization Advisory Council, a group of state officials that makes recommendations about vaccine requirements for Vermont schoolchildren, met for the first time in nearly two years.

About 25 minutes later, the meeting was over, with the council declining to take up a question that has sparked controversy across the country: Should Covid-19 vaccines be required for schoolchildren?

“Clearly, this is a topic that should be discussed,” said Mark Levine, the Vermont commissioner of health and a council member, said at the meeting. “No question about it.”

But members showed little appetite for that discussion. Asked for their thoughts Tuesday, neither the council’s members nor members of the public weighed in on the pros or cons of mandating the shot.

“Quiet group,” quipped Secretary of Education Dan French, the newly elected chair of the council.

That hesitancy appeared to signal that officials are still far away from implementing a statewide Covid-19 vaccine mandate in schools — if they decide to do so at all.

State officials have largely sidestepped the question of whether or not Vermont’s children should be required to get the shot, despite polling that shows such a mandate would be popular.

Jason Maulucci, a spokesperson for Gov. Phil Scott, said last week that the governor is waiting to hear from health officials and parents before weighing in.

“However, as the governor has said many times, while he believes being vaccinated is the right decision for individuals to make, he’s proud of the fact that Vermonters are leading the nation in many vaccination categories, without it being mandatory,” Maulucci said.

At the meeting, and in Scott’s weekly press conference, Levine said the question of mandating vaccines was not a pressing one.

“I do not regard it to be an urgent matter,” Levine said at the press conference. “We are by far leading the nation in the effort to get (children) vaccinated and the percentage that are already vaccinated.”

A decision on a mandate would have to take into account a number of factors, officials said, including the effectiveness of the shots in children, the severity of Covid-19 in children, and how many children have received vaccines without mandates.

Under state statute, the Immunization Advisory Council — which can only make recommendations, not rules — is required to meet a minimum of once a year.

But the body’s last meeting, according to Health Department spokesperson Bennett Truman, took place in June 2020. It was not immediately clear why the group did not meet in 2021.

Truman said that officials “anticipate” another meeting before the end of 2022, but did not provide a date.

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Vt Legislature advances bill to ban toxic ‘forever chemicals’ from firefighting gear, dental floss, cleaning products

June 4, 2025
The Vermont Senate and House advance legislation (H.238) May 29 that would outlaw the use of toxic perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighting gear, dental floss, cleaning products, and fluorine-treated containers—a critical step in reducing Vermonters’ exposure to these harmful substances. The Senate expanded the bill as passed by the House by adding a provision that…

To be continued…

June 4, 2025
A final compromise on education reform proved elusive late Friday, and at about 11 p.m., the Senate adjourned, followed by the House at about 11:30 p.m. As late as 10 p.m., legislative leaders were still hopeful that the six conferees (three House and three Senate members) could reach a deal sometime before midnight that would…

Nearing the end?

June 4, 2025
After passing several challenging bills in the last few weeks, the Vermont Legislature adjourned until June 16 due to an impasse over negotiations on our education transformation bill, H.454. Many other bills addressing housing, homelessness, healthcare, and several other major issues required compromises from both the House and the Senate in order to be passed…

Vermont gets $23 million from ongoing settlement with tobacco manufacturers

June 4, 2025
Attorney General Charity Clark announced last month that Vermont received a total of $23,132,483.92 from tobacco manufacturers under the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). Annually, Vermont receives monies from tobacco manufacturers from the MSA, which resolved the state’s lawsuit filed in the 1990s. The settlement funds are credited to the state’s Tobacco Fund, and the…