Vermont is experiencing a surge in new COVID cases

Vermont leads the nation in the number of persons vaccinated, but Gov. Phil Scott has called on holdout Vermonters to get vaccinated. He pointed out that about 61% of all the state’s cases since July have been among the unvaccinated despite that group making up less than 30% of the population.

At the same time, unvaccinated people make up 75% of those in the hospital and intensive care units for COVID, which is putting pressure on Vermont’s health care system, Gov. Scott said Tuesday.

Orleans County and the northeast kingdom region of Vermont have been the hardest hit by the recent surge. Orleans County had a daily average rate of 30 cases as of Wednesday, according to the New York Times. That is slightly more than double the daily average for Bennington County, which has the second-highest rate.

At his press conference, Gov. Scott said parents should vaccinate any children under 12 as soon as they become eligible. He added that people older than 65 or at high risk of infection should get boosters as soon as possible.

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children as young as five years old before October ends and shots could become available for children as soon as early November. The FDA also authorized a booster for the Pfizer vaccine in September for certain groups of people and for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots on Wednesday.  

Despite Vermont’s push to vaccinate its citizens, people must accept that a small number of Vermonters will not get vaccinated, Gov. Scott said in his press conference Tuesday. He urged the unvaccinated to exercise caution to avoid spreading the disease, including wearing a mask around others.

“I do hope those who haven’t yet gotten their shot will think long and hard about what all of this means and their role in it,” Gov. Scott said.

More health care and Big Pharma coverage from Fortune:

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• COVID-19 vaccine makers could inoculate the world by the end of 2022, says J&J CEO Alex Gorsky
• Got the J&J vaccine? Here’s what you need to know about boosters