Area businesses set vaccine policies

MIDDLEBURY/VERGENNES — Many businesses in Addison County have been deliberating in the past few weeks on how to keep their workplace safe from COVID-19 in light of to the Delta variant’s spread and breakthrough cases in the county.Some are encouraging all customers to be vaccinated and requiring staff vaccinations. Others are banning unvaccinated customers with signs or rules, but are not requiring proof of vaccination. And some businesses are requiring customers to present proof of a vaccination card to en … (read more)

BRISTOL — The Mount Abraham Unified School District has been selected by the state of Vermont as a vaccination site for the entire community, school officials announced on Monday.State and local officials are hoping to achieve an 80% vaccination rate amon … (read more)

MYTH: The COVID-19 vaccines were developed too fast to be safe.FACTS: It’s understandable that people would have this concern. The vaccines were rolled out in record time, two of them using a novel technology. The government entity that led the effort was … (read more)

Better late than never, as the saying goes.Massachusetts residents who only recently got immunized against COVID-19 cited a variety of reasons for waiting: a torrent of misinformation on social media, concern that the vaccine would exacerbate preexisting … (read more)

Editor’s note: This commentary is written in collaboration with The Boston Globe, which through its The Last Best Shot project has provided news reports and graphics on the COVID-19 virus to participating papers throughout New England. Their initiative se … (read more)

MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury College reported four cases of COVID-19 on campus Friday, and the institution has announced it will now require facial coverings indoors and in all public venues on campus, effective immediately.“This update in policy is based on C … (read more)

MIDDLEBURY — The Addison Central School District community will be expected to wear masks indoors for at least the first 10 days of classes this fall, in order to give officials a chance to calculate the percentage of eligible students who have received t … (read more)

MIDDLEBURY — As Middlebury College prepares for student arrivals next month, officials are bracing for the possibility of yet another semester spent limiting the spread of COVID-19.“Our plan remains to establish a fully vaccinated campus community, with t … (read more)

BURLINGTON — The University of Vermont Health Network, which includes Middlebury’s Porter Medical Center, will require employees to either get a COVID-19 vaccination by Oct. 1, or be subject to weekly testing for the disease, which has killed 260 Vermonte … (read more)

MONTPELIER — The Vermont Department of Labor is reminding claimants the federal expansion of unemployment insurance benefits created under the CARES Act will end Sept. 5. This includes Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Federal Pandemic Unemployment … (read more)

MONTPELIER — Vermont students will be able to return to fully in-person instruction when the school year begins this fall, with only a few state health recommendations in place, Gov. Phil Scott announced at a Tuesday press conference.With COVID-19 cases o … (read more)

Dear Field Days Fairgoers,Regarding last week’s article in this paper, I want to dispel the negative slant portrayed towards our COVID-19 thinking and preparations. I personally work for the Vermont Department of Health and have been entrenched in COVID r … (read more)

MIDDLEBURY — State and local health officials urged unvaccinated Vermonters to consider the emergence of the Delta variant of the coronavirus as a wake-up call to finally get a COVID-19 vaccination.Delta is a highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus strain, fir … (read more)

Careful what you wish for.Last week I wrote in the Minibury e-newsletter about pining for the simpler days of last summer.This week there is nothing on my calendar, and I’m not happy about it: My family is on Day 6 of quarantine after being exposed to COV … (read more)

HANCOCK — The Hancock Selectboard met this past week, during which Richard Andrews reported that he will not be bidding on the mowing contract in the fall. He also said that a sign noting weight restrictions still remains at the end of Tunnel Brick Road.B … (read more)