Good morning everyone. Thanks for tuning in. We've got a lot to cover today, so let's get right to it. First, as I mentioned on Tuesday, Vermont has already hit our vaccination goal for June 1st. That's the June 1st step of the Vermont Forward Plan. So effective later today, we'll be moving into step three, more than two weeks ahead of schedule. I want to thank Vermonters for making this possible. Because of you stepping up for the greater good, doing your part in getting vaccinated, we're able to do this. We lead the nation in vaccinations, which not only benefits us in the short term, but also for our recovery as well. As a reminder of what step three means, there will no longer be testing requirement for travel, and capacity limits will increase both indoors and outdoors. With this step, the gathering restrictions will be one unvaccinated person per 50 square feet, which means up to 300 people indoors and 900 outdoors, plus any number of vaccinated people in both settings. You can find more information on this on vermont.gov, which will be updated today. As I also said on Tuesday, later today I'll be extending the emergency order for another month, but there will be some changes. First, we'll be updating Vermont's mask mandate following the CDC's updated guidance, which was announced yesterday. This will mean those who are fully vaccinated no longer need to wear masks indoors or outdoors, nor do they need to be concerned with physical distancing. Why? Because as we've seen, vaccines work. My new order conforms with the new CDC guidance, which is based on the science and the data. Now, I understand there might be some who are still uncomfortable, a little hesitant, and that's okay. That's their choice, and I sincerely hope Vermonters can show understanding. But the fact is, if you're fully vaccinated, the health experts at the CDC have determined there is very little risk, and it's time to reward all the hard work you've done over the past 14 months to help make Vermont's pandemic response the best in the country. Stepping up to be vaccinated has been key, and if you haven't been vaccinated yet, here's another reason why you should. Not only are they safe and effective, but they mean normalcy. Because again, as the CDC said, when you're fully vaccinated, you're protected, and you have a reduced risk of spreading COVID. Now, we're still not out of this. So for those of you who are not fully vaccinated, meaning two weeks after your final dose, you need to continue to follow our mask mandate. And we still need more people to get their shot. But this is a monumental step forward in the pandemic. In a few minutes, Dr. Levine will talk more about the CDC guidance. Secretary Smith will talk about our strategy to vaccinate more Vermonters, including walk-ins, workplace clinics, and of course 12 to 15-year-olds. A quick update from me first. I'm pleased to say we'll be receiving an additional 5,000 Pfizer doses next week, thanks to the new federal pooling system. And I want to thank General Perna and his team at Operation Warp Speed for this new process and additional allocation. So now I'd like to turn it over to Secretary French for an education update. Thank you, Governor. Good morning. This week we have been working closely with our state partner agencies and organizations to set up COVID-19 vaccination clinics for children aged 12 to 15. Many of these clinics will be held at school sites around the state. Secretary Smith will have more information on this program in his comments. As part of this work, we developed model letters and vaccination information handouts that can go home to families. This information lets parents know how to pre-register their children, how the vaccination process will be organized, and includes information on the vaccine from the Health Department and the CDC. Walk-in appointments are available for children, so we also provided information on how parental consent can be given on-site, including these three options. Parents can come to a clinic with their child and give consent in person. Parents can complete and sign the vaccine consent form and send it in with their child. Or three, a member of this vaccine clinic staff can call a parent on the phone and talk to you and document your consent over the phone. I strongly encourage parents to have their children vaccinated. It is important for all Vermonters to get vaccinated to ensure the safety of our communities and our schools. Understandably, parents will have questions about getting their children vaccinated. They should consult their local pediatrician and healthcare provider as necessary to get that information and advice. I want to thank our pediatrician and healthcare provider community for their support in this very important initiative. I also want to thank our school nurses for their leadership in this effort. Their work has been outstanding throughout this pandemic. The role of the school nurse is a very complex one and our Vermont school nurses are tremendously talented group who deserve our gratitude and appreciation. Every month, we survey our schools to understand the types of learning that they offer. We've been doing the survey since the beginning of the school year and we administer the survey at the end of each month. I thought I'd share some observations from April's survey data. Overall, in all grade levels, about 11% of our students experienced remote learning in April, 35% were full in-person and 54% were in hybrid. This means about 89% of our students were in some form of in-person instruction during April, including full in-person or hybrid learning. The overall percentage of in-person instruction for all grade levels increased by 3% as compared to March. When we break this down by grade level, we see that most of this increase came from a significant increase in the amount of in-person at the high school level. The amount of in-person learning at the elementary level stayed the same in April, about 50% of our students at the elementary level learning in person. At the middle level, there was about a 4% increase with 28% of middle level students learning through in-person in April. The biggest change came at the high school level. From March to April, the amount of in-person learning at the high school level doubled with about 17% of high school students receiving instruction through in-person learning. The increases for in-person at the middle and high school levels are probably related to the shifting guidance we enacted during this time period, which reduced the minimum distancing requirements at these grade levels from 6 feet to 3 feet. Many high schools had identified the 6-foot requirement in particular as being a barrier to implementing more in-person instruction. I think the increase in the amount of in-person learning during April is a tremendous achievement, especially considering that a number of the school cases of the virus peaked in early April and schools were struggling with maintaining continuous operations throughout the month. Now that virus activity in our communities in our schools is receding, I expect school operations will become much more stable and more schools will be able to offer expanded learning for in-person, which is essential to begin the recovery work in education. We are now in the process of planning for the fall. We expect to publish guidance for the fall later this month, and I'm communicating to school leaders now that they should prepare for full in-person learning and normal operations with the start of the school year in September. That concludes my update. I'll now turn it over to Secretary Smith. Thank you, Secretary French, and good morning, everyone. Today, I'll provide an update on our overall progress as well as announce the locations of upcoming vaccine clinics. As you know, after the CDC's approval on Wednesday, those age 12 to 15 became eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine. We opened registration yesterday and so far more than 7,312 to 15-year-olds with help and consent from their parents or guardian have made appointments. I want to emphasize that consent is needed from a parent or guardian in order for those age 12 to 15 to get vaccinated. You can sign up online at healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine, or you can call<PHONE_NUMBER> to make an appointment. There will be a doses available for walk-ins at most locations. However, they are only able to walk in with a parent or guardian with a signed paper consent form. The Vermont chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics is hosting a series of virtual forums for families to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine in adolescence. And to answer any of your questions, this is an opportunity to speak with a pediatrician in your community along with your local health department school liaison and other health community partners. Two sessions were held last night and were well received. Find the list of forums on the health department website or aavt.org. That's aavt.org. As always, please feel free to reach out to your child's pediatrician with specific questions. Pediatricians are thrilled that more of their patients and family members are eligible to be vaccinated and are ready to help in any way that they can. Let's talk about the overall progress in terms of overall progress. As of this morning, 384,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19. 101,600 have received their first dose of vaccine. 283,200 have received their first and last doses of a vaccine. Just to put it in perspective, Vermonters 12 plus would at least one dose. That's 71.6% of that population. And all Vermonters with at least one dose is 63.2%. Now, let's move on to the many convenient opportunities to get your shot. On Saturday, seven locations along Route 100 will offer vaccinations. As you can see on the slide, we will be at Granville, Warren, Duxbury, Waterbury, Stowe, North Hyde Park, and Eden. And on the next slide, we will be in Windham County next week at four locations. As you can see, on May 17th, we will be at the Windham Town Hall on the 18th, the Wind Hall Fire Station, and London Dairy Ambulance on the 19th at Deerfield Ambulance and on the 20th at Searsburg Town Offices. On May 21st, the Lancaster Fairgrounds in New Hampshire will vaccinate Vermonters. You can sign up online at healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine or you can call a 55722 7878 to make an appointment. There will be doses available for walk-ins at each location. On May 20th, you can get your shot at North Beach in Burlington. This is a walk-in-only event. And as I mentioned on Tuesday, Vermont's Emergency Medical Services and Fire Departments will open their doors to offer vaccines at 31 sites throughout Vermont on May 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. This will include a clinic on Church Street in Burlington on May 22nd. These will also be walk-ins only. The EMS schedule is being finalized, but you can go to healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine to look for locations, times, and other opportunities to make appointments or walk-ins. As you know, beginning May 17th, school-based sites will again be part of our next statewide vaccination effort, along with regular clinics. So far, we have more than 100 clinics serving this population with 66 of them hosted in schools. You can find a list of these school-based clinics at healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine. As a reminder, families with children in this age group will be eligible to go to any site across the state that offers Pfizer vaccine, and all sites will be open to the public. Registration for school-based and community sites serving 12 to 15 year olds will be online at healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine. You can also register on the Kinnies, Walgreens, and CVS websites. Additionally, in partnership with the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, the Vermont Department of Health will begin hosting walk-in COVID-19 vaccine sites for restaurant, hospitality, and tourism workers over the next week. The initial wave of clinics will take place at seven locations, with each site offering Johnson & Johnson vaccine for hospitality workers on a walk-in basis. Clinics will be staged at restaurants, lodging properties, ski resorts, and other tourism attractions in an effort to bring the vaccine directly to the workers in this sector. The first wave of clinics will be in Waterbury, Middlebury, Woodstock, Waitsfield, Windsor, South Burlington, and Warren. To see all dates, times, and locations for these hospitality worker vaccine clinics, please visit accd.vermont.gov slash vaccine or healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine. More than a dozen additional clinics, including Rutland, Killington, Stowe, and Virginians, are now being planned and will be added as details are confirmed. We will also be announcing other outreach initiatives in the near future as we strive to make it easier and more convenient as possible to get a vaccine. Aside from the lifesaving benefit, you may even have fun doing it. As I mentioned with the EMS outreach, I think you'll find it the atmosphere to be festive in many locations. We want to maintain this incredible momentum that we have in this state in terms of vaccinating Vermonters. Remember, Vermont, this is our shot. Thank you for doing your part, and now I'll turn it over to Dr. Levine for a health update. Thanks, Secretary Smith. And just to add to your comments at a number of the sites I've been to already where vaccination is occurring, it is universally festive. Our daily cases continue in the same range from the 20s to the 70s, 58 being reported today. Our new case rate is 64.7 per 100,000 compared with the national rate of 74.7 per 100,000. The positivity remains at 1%. Hospitalizations are getting even lower, 12 reported today, two in the ICU. Yesterday, for the first time since November, the UVM Medical Center had no COVID inpatients, a truly noteworthy event. And while I wish the number was zero, we have only recorded three deaths this month so far. All of these are ongoing good indicators of Vermont's progress. We've all worked through this pandemic to prevent the spread of the virus. Wearing masks, keeping our distance, limiting our activities and our social circles. We weighed every risk and worried about our loved ones. There's no doubt how hard that has been. But now we are finally at a point where stopping the spread is actually pretty easy. We just need to get vaccinated. A year ago, not that I need to remind anyone, we were in a serious hunker-down mode with many restrictions on where we could go, what we could do, life-protecting rules for how to do it. Now we are starting to come out of all of that. Why? Because we're getting vaccinated. And now as you've all heard, getting vaccinated will mean even more benefits. Vermont will follow the CDC New Guideline announced yesterday. Fully vaccinated people can now confidently participate in both indoor and outdoor activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing. We have been eagerly awaiting this and know that it is based on current science, research and data. Cases continue to fall here and around the country and studies increasingly are showing three big things. First, our vaccines are working in the real world. Studies show them to be more than 90% effective in real-world settings in preventing mild and severe disease, hospitalizations and death. Indeed, I've noted this at a number of recent press conferences as the research publications have been coming out in recent months. Second, our vaccines have proven to be effective against the virus variants now circulating in the U.S. And third, if you are vaccinated, you are less likely to spread the virus. This is a topic that we've been asked about at numerous press conferences and I've noted the gradually accumulating literature supporting lower likelihood of transmissibility of virus from vaccinated individuals. All of this points to the confidence we can have in vaccines. Vaccination equals protection. In knowing how strong our vaccination rates are here in Vermont, with thousands more getting their shots each day, we believe this guidance makes sense for Vermont and for fully vaccinated Vermonters who are protected from COVID-19. Life can and should start to begin to look normal again. Now remember, fully vaccinated means two weeks have passed since your final dose. This is important. Anything less than that means you need to continue to keep taking the usual prevention precautions. Also, there are some exceptions to the new guidance. It does not apply to certain settings, including healthcare settings, which includes hospitals and long-term care facilities. And if you have a condition or are taking medications that weaken your immune system, you may need to continue taking precautions even after vaccination. It is best to talk to your healthcare provider about what is right for you. Other settings this does not apply to at this time include correctional facilities, homeless shelters, public transportation, and anywhere where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local businesses and workplace guidance. Finally, this does not apply to children who are too young to be vaccinated, now just up to age 11, or the schools they attend and the teachers and staff they interact with. Now, I know that not every fully vaccinated person will be ready to stop wearing a mask or physical distancing, and that's okay. A new term has emerged, what's called reentry anxiety, and that's understandable after all of these months of precautions. It may even feel weird to some to not wear a mask, but know that when you do feel ready, vaccines work and you are protected. I also want to mention that we shouldn't judge or stigmatize those who do or don't now wear a mask. It's a transitional time, we all have our own reasons, medical or otherwise. Do what feels right for you, but without exception follow the rules and the guidance. And now we have even more good news, as a young of Romaners can now be protected by the vaccine. You know by now that the advisory group from the CDC recommended the Pfizer emergency use authorization be extended to 12 to 15 year olds and the CDC approved. We were able to move quickly to open appointments yesterday, and you've heard about the thousands who have already stepped up. I want to reiterate that the data shows this vaccine is safe and effective for this age group, based on clinical trial data. These vaccines were developed on the foundations of decades of research. I strongly encourage parents and caregivers to get their child vaccinated, to keep them safe and healthy, and know they are protected from COVID-19 as soon as you can. The Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics also advocates for this. As you heard, they are conducting public forums across the state, which are timed to precede school-based clinics in each region. I urge you to tune in, have your concerns addressed, and your questions answered. And listen to those pediatricians who have adolescents in their own household, and have already signed them up for their shot. Remember, pediatricians spend much of their career helping to keep kids well using many tools, and one of these is immunization. And keep in mind, the COVID vaccine is actually more effective in preventing illness than the flu shot, and ranks right up there among the most highly effective and safe vaccines. More than 4,000 Vermont children and adolescents have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and that has had a huge impact on kids, families, childcare programs, and schools. We know how much they have missed out on, and how ready they are to get back to school, friends, sports, camps, vacations, graduations, and more without restrictions or fear. Having the vaccine available to them now is a real opportunity, and I hope you'll take it. I thank the Agency of Education and our school communities for organizing clinics and schools. We hope this makes it even easier for families. Now, I urge parents to talk about the vaccine with their child ahead of time, letting them know they might feel a little sick for a day or two after getting the vaccine, but that won't last long. Talk them through how the vaccine will teach their body to fight off the COVID-19 virus, and how by getting vaccinated, they are helping to protect everyone around them. As always, your pediatrician should also be a trusted resource for you if you have any questions. I want to thank all of the pediatricians, family practitioners, and all my healthcare colleagues who are supporting this work to get Vermonters vaccinated. Just starting the conversation in your interaction with patients can open the door and help them make the health and life-affirming decision to get vaccinated. We'll now open it up to questions. Thank you, Governor. So how do you envision employers navigating these new mask rules? Of course, it's difficult to tell. It's almost impossible really to tell who's been vaccinated and who isn't. So is the state going to be issuing any legal guidance for employers about what they can and can't do? Well, again, there are going to be a lot of what-ifs, what-abouts, a lot of questions, and we don't have all the answers to everything at this point in time, and we'll continue, as we've done through every step of this process over the last 14 months, do our best to answer the questions as they come along. We feel as though it's the employers, they have, or these businesses, have the ability to create their own rules. Think about it in terms of no shirt, no shoes, no service, and if you, they could, they could require any of their customers to do the same. How they enforce it is another matter. We have taken a different approach here in Vermont, and I would say that it's been quite effective, as you might recall, back when we issued the mask mandate. A lot of the same questions came up. How are we going to enforce this? And we said, we're going to leave it up to the individuals. We're going to leave it up to Vermonters to do the right thing, and by and large, I think they've done that. And it's taken, it took a little bit of a transition time. I mean, anecdotally, when I went into a store or business in the beginning, I didn't see as many masks, but by two months in, I saw where there was a lot of compliance. So it's going to take a while to transition out of that as well. So I would just say that we will provide any guidance we can, but we feel as though the businesses themselves can have these restrictions in place. And I guess my second question for Dr. Levine, can you talk about the implications for kids under 12 who still can't get the shots? I'm thinking, you know, a kid walks into a grocery store with their parent surrounded by potentially other maskless adults. You know, what can you describe potentially the risk there, or just what that means basically for kids? Sure. So they're part of the population that still, but hopefully not for too much longer, can't receive the vaccine. So by the guidance, they're required to have a mask on, whether they happen to be in their school or in their grocery store, for that matter, certainly not around their home or around the people that are in their household. That is a strategy to help protect others who may not be vaccinated and themselves from COVID. So it won't be much of a departure in their day to day existence from what it is now, because they've actually become accustomed to this as hopefully most of us have, even though somewhat begrudgingly, the fact is this is the reality they've been in. We're very hopeful based on news coming out of the scientific community that it won't be later than the fall before we have yet a younger age of children who will be eligible for the vaccine. So this will be another kind of a transition period for us all to get through, children and adults alike. But I don't think it'll be very significant in terms of needing to have behavior change or anything of that sort. And finally, why, I guess, are you and the governor and Secretary Smith, why are you guys still wearing masks right now? That has to do with the executive order and some of the technicalities that have to occur before this actually becomes real. Calvin, just to add to that a couple of things. I mean, it's just been part of what we're accustomed to at this point in time. I haven't signed the executive order. We'll be doing it this afternoon to make it official. And thought I should follow the rules until that time. But I think you can expect on Tuesday we'll all be coming to the press briefing without masks. Governor, given the upwards of 5000 plus signups yesterday for the I think it was 7300, I believe. 7300? Well, there we go. Between the ages of 12 and 15, compared to, I think it's 27,000 you said in the group, something like that. Yeah, 27,000 in that group. Roughly. I mean, that's a fairly high percentage. Is that encouraging for you folks? It's amazing when you think about that over 25% have now signed up and that's only after a day. So hopefully we'll have more than that age group sign up. So it's an encouraging sign. I'm still very concerned about the 18 to 30. And that's the grouping that we see have not performed as well as they should, I believe. So we're still watching that. We're trying to figure out ways Secretary Smith had talked about some of the strategies we're putting into place and we'll continue to explore and and try new things to try and get that that age group to become vaccinated in a higher capacity. I noticed in Florida several establishments now since they've opened the bars and such are offering a shot for a shot, so to speak incentives like that encouraged or Well, again, what the individual businesses do? Sure. Anything they want to do to increase their business and increase some incentive for their clientele and their employees. I'm all for. We we enjoy here in Vermont. Again, we're number one in the nation in many, many categories. And when you add them all up, we are the the the best performing state in the country. So we haven't had to utilize some of the strategies they have.  But we haven't had to do that because Vermonters have done the right thing. And I again thank them for for doing that stepping up for the greater good. Have you seen any? Any update on the employment situation across the across the board? Have you heard anything in terms of our folks are folks coming back in and you know, I haven't. I get my weekly reports, which I pour through on the weekends, but I don't get them till this afternoon. So I should have a better report for you on Tuesday. Very good. Thank you. Good morning. I was refreshing my memory about what Step three is and how that jobs with what the CDC announced suddenly yesterday. And I'm could you just be as clear as you can be? What do vaccinated people? What are we able to do starting tomorrow? Vaccinated people can do any number of things. Don't have to wear your mask either inside or outside. And and with the the step three, we're increasing gathering sides sizes both inside and outside. So there's a number of things that will provide again for more normalcy and looking forward to it. So I think again, this is a step in the right direction, really a monumental moment in both those regards to the the mass as well as as the gathering sizes and and what it means for businesses as well. Governor Dewan is I think offering a lot of retickets and sort of some prizes. Is that something that you consider? Yeah, again, I think we have experienced that we haven't had to offer all those incentives and Vermonters have done the right things, stepped up and to offer those now I think would, you know, not benefit those who've already done what they should have and and rewards those who who are waiting. So at this point in time, you know, we've talked about this in great detail in some of our meetings over the last number of weeks. But but I just don't think we need to do that right now. I think again, we're we're on the path here to you know, removing all restrictions by the 4th of July, if not before. So again, with our high rate of vaccinations, I just don't think we need to provide those incentives. You think it's likely it'll come before the 4th of July? I think there's a good chance. But to be perfectly honest with you, I'm watching that number that that age group 18 to 30. And that's the one I'm concerned about. So the longer that underperforms, the least likely we are to remove all restrictions before the 4th of July. Sooner we do that. Sooner the vaccination rate increases is a higher likelihood that we could get there before the 4th of July. Finally, just a statehouse question. There seems to be a little confusion about what you are requesting of the legislature in terms of the ARPA funding. They want to allocate some half of the billion. You want to plan for the entire billion. Does that mean you want a billion allocated this year or none of it this year and all of it next year in one package or what? I don't. I'm not understanding where the confusion is. I think I've been quite clear with the legislature as well as leadership within the legislature. My request to them is, give me a plan. Show me where you want to spend. You don't have to spend it all this year. We didn't intend to spend it all in the first year. But we put a plan together that would really benefit Vermont in monumental ways, really transformative. So that's what we're looking for. They don't go beyond, they want to spend half of it in this year and a lot of it on, I would say, to fill budget holes and to provide services for programs. And I think this needs to be more tangible. I think it needs to be transformative. I think this is our opportunity to do something big and that we can look back on in 10, 15, 20 years and say this is when Vermont took a turn for the better. This is when we solved a lot of the problems we had, whether it's in housing or broadband or with the climate change mitigation or water sewer storm or the economy. This is our opportunity to do that. And I'm just looking for the vision from the legislature beyond going just one year to one year and spending, I would say, half of it in this first year. I'm not sure that we didn't do that. We showed them what our vision was, our plan was over the next three to four years. And that's what I'm looking for. Because we have enough money, again, we have enough money right now because of the budget surpluses that we've accumulated, which is incredible when you think about how far we've come over the last four years, but certainly over the last year when we thought we were going to have a huge deficit. And now we have upwards to $300 million surplus in this year. So I'm saying, let's use some of that one time money instead of dipping into the ARPA funding and use the ARPA funding for something truly monumental. Wilson Reign, the Associated Press. Hi, good morning, everybody. I want to ask again about the waving of the wax mask requirement. And that's great for vaccinated, but the thing I keep wondering is how do you prove it? I mean, if stores have want people who come into their stores to be vaccinated, what is the mechanism of letting people know? I'll just leave it at that. Yeah. Well, again, it's on the honor system. Once again, as we've done throughout this pandemic, and I believe that it's not perfect. It's not 100%. But I think it worked well for Vermont to fit us. And I think that we're going to have to live with that in the process. Now, I believe, and again, this is probably more a legal question, but I believe a business could ask someone to present their vaccination card. But I'm not advocating for that. I'm just saying, you know, we've done pretty well along the way, taking people at their word. And I would say that we're going to get through this. And again, remember, we're only talking about a window right now of about six weeks at most until we get to the 4th of July, when all restrictions are going to be lifted. So this is just a transitionary period between now and the 4th of July, when I expect by then, if not sooner, that will lift all restrictions at that point. Okay. And I asked you this question a couple of months ago, but I'm going to these press briefings. I think they're great. I mean, you've talked to everybody from all over for basically take on any questions till the end of the day. What's that? Have you thought about the future of these? Yeah.  Sorry. No, no, that's it. I mean, once this is over, once this is over, and you could have these your press conferences, you know, in the on the 5th floor or in the state house, but they don't people don't get as great an access to them. Yeah. I'm just curious. That's one of the silver linings of this pandemic, I think, has been these press briefings when we've been able to buy. We've been forced to in some respects to hear from people from all over the state by telephone and have them hear their thoughts, hear what's going on in their geographical areas and try and answer their questions. And so I think it's, it's opened up and it's been more transparent and we've enjoyed it as well. So we want to continue some form of this. I'm not sure that we want to go on for two and a half hours, two times a week and doing so, we might have to to restrict the number of questions and so forth. But we certainly want to keep it open because all these smaller weeklies in the Northeast Kingdom and Southern Vermont and so forth and so on really is is beneficial to everyone toss as well because we get to hear what's on their mind rather than as you know, Wilson and in years past and it's not a condemnation on anyone. But you had the same Montpelier press corps that was in the area that would come to the state house and go to these these press briefings and they got to ask all the questions and that was it. But now we are able to hear from everyone and I think that that has been, you know, it's not easy to answer all the questions. Sometimes you don't have all the answers, but it's also engaged a lot of our cabinet as well. And that's been been key as well for them as well as for the listeners to hear, you know, their answers, what they're doing and say it with credibility. Okay, great. Thank you very much. Good morning. I think this is a question for Secretary Smith. How are pop-up clinics being publicized? Tuesday at the press conference we heard about the root 100 corridor clinic, but only late yesterday we learned about another walk-in hospitality clinic at the round barn in the wakefield from noon until two today. Is there a place on the website where we can see new and local clinics so we can share this information to our community? I don't see today's wakefield clinic at the round barn on the health department website. I did receive texts and email notifications about the root 100 clinics through the space notification site, but not this week's pop-up clinic. How can we better inform our community? Lisa, that's a great question, and thank you for asking it. We've got to get better at making sure that we do this. We're moving at light speed and trying to get these pop-ups and various things done.  I will make sure that we make a conservative effort to reach out through the health department as well as on the health department's website of where these are going to be and make sure that we can keep it up to date. There are some that pop-up, no pun intended, that pop-up really, really quickly here based upon what we have for available dosage and what we have for available people to do it, but you're absolutely right. We're moving at light speed here, and I think what we need to do is just make sure that we reach out to local media as well. So thank you for bringing that question up. Thank you. That's it for me. Good morning, Governor. I kind of want to spin off on what Wilson brought up a few minutes ago. Obviously, there's a great deal of changes that were brought statewide with COVID, and the accessibility that the Governor's office has provided has been just one of the silver linings. You know, to name a few, the DMV has become a whole lot more flexible with registering vehicles through the mail, for instance. Changes have been made to municipal meetings so that members of the public can attend remotely, whether that's because they don't feel comfortable medically, or maybe they have children and they can't make it to a seven o'clock meeting every Tuesday night, or even medical regulations where we're influencing and encouraging more medical by telephone or relaxing medical regulations to increase patient care. I'm wondering, Governor, from your point of view, what sorts of things you would like to see stay the same with state government, and maybe even federal government or local government legislature is more accessible with YouTube? What would you like to stay the same, and what would you be looking for going forward, whether it be through executive order or working with lawmakers, to ensure that some of these positive things continue after COVID is a thing of the past? Yeah, I think it's incumbent upon all of us to reflect on what we've learned over the last 14 months, the good and the bad, and take advantage of all the good things, so whether it's telehealth or whether it's some of the remote type of meetings and the ability to flip back and forth and provide accessibility to those who have never been to the state house and listen in to a committee discussion. And I think that that's something that needs to continue, and I believe that the legislature is contemplating all of that themselves. I'd also add that, you know, some of this, with all the boards and commissions we have throughout the state, it's sometimes difficult to fill all the positions because of just drive times, having to get to different meetings. And I think from my perspective, having some of those meetings where they meet remotely would be beneficial, and we would attract more people that would want to be involved, both participating as board members, but also listening to the process. So I think this is all positive. Again, we will be contemplating that, and how do we make sure that we preserve all the good things that have happened, like these press briefings, and again, it won't be the same. We won't be doing press briefings twice a week for two and a half hours at every time, but we will learn that we want to keep this open, and we want to hear from you, and we want to hear again what's going on in your community. So I think there's just a lot of positives, but we're going to have to get together to figure out what those are. I mean, we're doing it as a state government, but it goes far beyond state government, as you mentioned. So again, we will want to hear from you and from Vermont as to what they'd like to see continue. You mentioned boards and commissions. I hadn't planned on asking this, but have you seen any projections as to how much the state has saved from not having to pay out mileage or hotel stays? I'm thinking, in particular, the parole board. Sometimes some people have to travel clear across the state. We'll have to stay a night or two at a hotel. Obviously, there's a lot of mileage involved. Do you have any sort of idea what the state has saved in 14 months doing a whole lot more telecommuting? Yeah, I don't have that, but I'm sure it exists somewhere, but I think it's significant. And it's not just in-state. It's out-of-state travel. And do we need, you know, many times it is important for something to be face-to-face and to participate in some of these meetings, but not always. And I'll be having one on Monday, for instance, with the with the New England governors and Eastern premiers. And I think that that's something we do every year, but we're not going to have to travel to it. I think that that's a good way to check in. Maybe there's going to be in the future, maybe quarterly means, but maybe we can get together, you know, every month or so and check in and do it remotely. So there are a lot of savings, I think, and we'll learn more about those savings. And again, it's just beneficial for a more efficient government. And that's what I've been trying to do throughout my political life is just trying to make things better, make things more efficient, and save taxpayers dollars in the process. I'm sure we'll learn more as we go along. I'd be curious to know what those numbers are. And I'm going to leave it at that. I appreciate the time, and I wish you a good weekend. Yeah, I'm not sure, Greg. They're all in one bucket is part of the problem. I mean, there's probably with every agency and department and and so forth, there's there's a travel expense. So it's it's it's not going to it's going to be a little take a little time, I think, to to get all that information. There's just not one source for it. But we'll definitely be talking to finance about that. Appreciate it. Thank you, Governor. Tom Davis, Compass Vermont. Thanks, Jason. Governor, I wanted to ask about the topic that came back up this week about the fact that Vermont local breweries, crackers are not able to ship their product out of state and suggested by some brewers that it seems that all of the breweries in Vermont should be able to shift their beer to any state that allows that should spear to Vermont. And I wondered what your position was on that. Yeah, you know, let me look into that, Tom. I do recall we forwarded some legislation to the legislature to consider in terms of some of this. So I'm not let me check into it and get back to you or have someone get back to you because I think there is again there. This could be beneficial to the breweries. We just don't want to I want to make sure that there's not a some sort of a negative effect on what we do and might cause some other problems or in the future. But but I do remember we've had this conversation. And I think it goes beyond just breweries. I think it involves distilleries as well. And distilleries. Yeah, that would make sense. And of course, probably cider is as well. I appreciate you're looking into it. Thanks very much. Hope you have a great weekend. Thank you. You too. Pete Herschfeldt, VPR. Secretary of Friends, you said that in-person learning among high school students is up. It has doubled in April. But you said overall in-person learning has gone up by only 3 percent. I'm wondering how both those numbers can be correct?  And firstly, I would just say that we're talking about students, not schools. So that's part of the dynamic. But as we see increases in in-person and hybrid, we see decreases in remote learning. So you know, it also I think is somewhat problematic. And one of the reasons we stayed with speaking about school students as opposed to schools is that we have so many different school configurations in Vermont. We don't, for example, have just K through 6 elementary schools. We have K through 12 schools that include elementary students. We have K through 8 schools that include elementary students. So part of that's part of the dynamic as well. But I think again, you know, this survey was designed to provide a general depiction of what the trends were. We do that on a monthly basis. The survey has been administered consistently at the end of each month since the beginning of the pandemic. And that's that's how the results have come back from the school district. So I think it's just a fair depiction of the overarching trend. And as I mentioned last week, confirmed by sort of what I was hearing anecdotally from districts, particularly high schools that were working through the change in the distancing requirements and really working hard to enact more in person. Thank you. And one more question for Dr. Levine. Dr. Levine, a lot of employers are wrestling right now with the what their vaccine policy is going to look like for employees that return to work. I know that you're not in the business of making any requirements on that front. But as a medical professional, what's your advice to employers that are trying to decide whether or not to require vaccines for employees who do come back to the workplace? I think we've certainly said a lot about the impact of vaccination and the benefits of vaccination. I think employers recognize that having a vaccinated staff means number one less absenteeism, which is of course favorable for them. And number two, many are very tightly intertwined with their own health care policies in terms of insurance and the premiums that their employees have to pay, etc. So having less illness because of vaccination can have a favorable impact there. So from a public health standpoint, and from a business person standpoint, there's a lot of conversions in terms of the benefits of doing that. You're right, I can't set that tone or create that mandate. But at the same time, we are aware that this is happening as we speak. And we're aware that Middlebury College has created that scenario that I think you're envisioning as we speak here. So it certainly is something that people are taking seriously and thinking about the benefits for. And when you look at a harm versus risk or strengths or benefits versus risk scenario, I don't see a huge list on the risk side. Obviously, there may be employees who feel they can't work under that circumstance or what have you. But employers are often able to make some kinds of accommodations as well. So it doesn't mean absolute yes or no. So overall, you know, I react favorably to what you've described without necessarily saying every employer in the state should take advantage of that and do that. Can I take your words? I mean, I guess, would it be fair to say that the Commissioner of Health is recommending to businesses that they require vaccines for those who don't have medical reasons not to get them as a condition for returning to the workplace? No, I don't think you should take it that far. I mean, I'm certainly recommending all Vermonters get vaccines. And I'm recommending all employers do everything they can to enhance the likelihood that their employees will get vaccines. This is one potential pathway. Governors described other pathways, you know, other employers have devised different incentive programs to make that become more true as well. So I would like you to say that I see both business slash financial as well as public health favorable implications of doing that. But there are many ways to get to that outcome. And clearly in Vermont, we're getting to that outcome very nicely. If you look at our number one vaccination rate in the country regarding doses administered to Vermonters, so certainly doesn't require an enforcement mechanism, if you will, for many, many vermin's. Thank you as always for your time. Hi, Governor, I was wondering what your take was on the health insurance rates, especially the small group that came through earlier this week. And if you think this is, I mean, it was actually pretty good news. And this is just a one off because of the federal funding that's going on now. Again, great news. Anytime that the rates are reduced, it's good news for consumers in Vermont.  I don't know whether this is a long lasting or not. I certainly hope so, but the time will tell. And I think that's probably a better question. Maybe for others that are in the industry or even Commissioner Petschek might be able to answer some of that as well. The other, I was wondering, would you favor, I mean, this is a lot of money coming from the federal government, would you favor transitioning to more of a, you know, a center of Sanchez that talked about Medicare for All. Would you support something along those lines or are you satisfied with how the insurance market is working now? Yeah, I think Medicare for All would be difficult for the country to adopt. I mean, it's just the way the nature of Americans don't fall into that category. So I just think the level of difficulty is tremendous. So I think we have to live within the system we have. And I believe we have to enhance that. And we've done a lot of things here in Vermont, and we're hoping the all payer model will bear fruit in years to come. But we have a lot of work to do in that area as well. And then there was a question with hanging with Stuart's question about getting to July 4th. And what would be the percentage we would need to have vaccinated at that point in what age range, you know, 18 plus, that'd be 70% or something like that. Yeah, we're looking at that, Tim, and I don't have a number for you today, but but we'll we'll consider that over the next week or so and might have something for you in the days, days and weeks to come. Okay, we'll look forward to that. Thank you. Pat WCAX. Hi, well, probably the question that Dr. Levine will want to weigh in on vaccines we know are very effective, but they are not 100% effective. So what is your message to people who are concerned that lifting the mask mandates will cause more spread of the virus? And what would you say to people who feel it is still too early to list those restrictions and who feel we need to wait until a higher percentage of our overall population is vaccinated? Yeah, thanks for those questions, Kat. The emphasis that we've really made all along with regard to the efficacy of this particular vaccine. And we probably never made as well with regard to the flu vaccine is that the protection you get from these vaccines, number one is against the worst outcomes possible, whether that be severe illness, whether that be hospitalization, whether that be death. We know that with these vaccines, they also do a really good job of protecting against even mild illness, because in the so called, I hate the term, but the breakthrough cases, which I'll remind people in Vermont are 0.06% at this point in time of our cases. A huge majority of those are mild illness or asymptomatic. And that's being found around the country as well. And there's the recent publication from Cleveland Clinic, essentially showing that 99% of their hospitalizations from COVID have been in unvaccinated people. So vaccines are powerful and they work very well. So people should realize that though there is a chance of having a milder illness, it would not be the thing that should be in the forefront of their mind, because they're not going to get anything more severe than that, most likely. And they're probably not going to even get that because the vaccine effect effectiveness is so high. So vaccine truly does equal protection. Now, the other part of your question sort of goes towards the transmissibility part. If people are taking off their masks, can they still transmit the virus? And the data continues to accumulate, and we're waiting for more even, but the bottom line has been that when studies are done, looking at vaccinated people and repeatedly doing nasal swabbing, you're not finding viable virus that can actually cause an impact on the population of people surrounding that person. And that's important. And it does get into a little bit of the concepts of viral load and threshold values on the equipment that we use to do the tests. But the bottom line is when not finding that people who have been vaccinated are becoming super spreaders in some way that we wouldn't have suspected otherwise. With regard to the concern about worrying about the percentage of the population that gets vaccinated first, when we look at the 18 and older where over 70%, even the 16 and older were over 70% having gotten at least partially vaccinated and 50% plus getting fully vaccinated and pretty much leading the nation, as the governor has said. Have we gotten to where we want to be yet? No, we want to get even better, obviously, and at the rate we're going, we're going to get even better because we still have thousands of people were vaccinating every day. But it doesn't mean this is a too early time to have said and recognized that vaccination does provide that protection. And those who've been vaccinated should get fully vaccinated should get that element of freedom from asking if they so choose it. So I think that, you know, if there is a state in the country that's going to get to a level that is really high enough to make people comfortable, it is going to be Vermont. Along with the Northeast region, I should say. All right. I'm going to pose a hypothetical here. So let's say that some people who are not fully vaccinated decide that they don't feel the need to wear masks anymore. Are you concerned that there will be a bump in our cases as a result of potential noncompliance? You know, if I'm concerned about that, I should say I've been concerned about that for 14 months, because the reality is the way we keep our cases down is by everybody following the appropriate guidance. So my hope is that everyone will continue to follow the current guidance that we're giving superimposed on all our previous guidance. And we won't see that kind of a bump. But the reality is, yes, if there are people who are unvaccinated who take the chance, the chance or the opportunity to say, I'm not going to wear my mask anymore either, they could potentially infect other unvaccinated people and we would see a modest amount of new cases. I don't think it would be tremendous. And I tend to have a little more faith in Vermonters based on our experience in the last 14 months that I don't think that scenario is going to happen. I also don't think that vaccinated people should feel super concerned that they may be encountering somebody with a mask off who is unvaccinated and that may hurt them because I do think the overwhelming evidence is still that they're going to be protected by their vaccine. Thank you very much. Along with that cat, just to take off from where Dr. Levine spoke about, it may not be an uptake or an increase in number of cases immediately. But part of the reason that we are advocating for people to be vaccinated now during this time, because we went through this last summer, we saw our case counts reduced. We saw the number of hospitalizations go down, the number of deaths go down during the summer months. Then we saw an uptake in increase in number of cases in the fall. So everything we can do now to prevent that from happening this fall is why we're so committed to getting people vaccinated now because it will prevent what we saw in the fall, in the winter. We experienced just a few months ago from happening again. Thank you. Joseph Gresser, the Barton Chronicle. Thank you. This is a follow on from the previous question with a sports twist. I read that the New York Yankees had a cluster of eight apparently breakthrough cases. I'm assuming because none of the people involved had severe or actually any symptoms in some cases that this was spotted because of a regime of surveillance testing. I'm wondering what the state is thinking about maintaining the testing it's doing now to keep an eye on people who are both vaccinated and not vaccinated to get an early sense if there should be some kind of change. For example, if the efficacy of a vaccine begins to decline over time. Yeah, Joe, I'm about as knowledgeable about the Yankee situation as you are because everything I know about it I've learned about on CNN. And the bottom line is there's a lot more we need to learn about that because that is quite unusual. They've had over a half a dozen asymptomatic people who all were ostensibly vaccinated. My assumption is fully vaccinated, but I don't know that fact. I don't know if there's something odd about what went on behavior wise before they got full vaccination. I don't know if there's something odd about a variant strain or who knows what. So we need to learn a lot more and I'm sure all those questions are being asked and hopefully we'll have some answers forthcoming because just on one team to have that rate of breakthrough, if that's what it is, seems quite unusual. For the guard to the bigger question of surveillance testing, I really, we are fortunately we're looking at our testing numbers every day and though they have decreased as the colleges are now going home and ending their semesters, we still have a robust amount of testing on a daily basis, which is really important to keep in mind. As the whole US goes through less cases, there will be less symptomatic people, so there'll be less symptomatic testing. I do want us to maintain a level of testing in the asymptomatic population who may not be vaccinated. We're finding that some of the vaccination rates and some of those groups that we've used for surveillance is so high that perhaps that won't be very beneficial because we won't find much at all. We collect Secretary French's reports on the teacher testing after the vaccination efforts were pretty much concluded in that group and we were finding fractions of a percent of cases, so very, very minimal. So we do need to still, I think, monitor those populations that may live in congregate settings and maybe at more risk and other populations where we know that the vaccine uptake has not been as high for whatever reason. So we have our eye on that for sure because the last thing you want to do is deceive yourself into thinking you can declare success but you're actually missing out on understanding a big chunk of the population. But it is appropriate to decrease surveillance testing in groups that have very high vaccination rates because I don't think that's a wise use of resources either at that point in time. Is there a plan, surveillance, and other kinds of activities that you're thinking about for the next year out? I mean, obviously things at the moment are a lot better. Many questions remain unanswered and do you have plans in place for how you're going to monitor the situation? Yes. So there are some populations that testing is ongoing and will continue. Some of those are in the congregate settings like corrections and some of the long-term care facilities where the uptake by staff may not have been as great. Secretary French can speak of a little bit about some of the pilot work that's going on in the education system regarding students who are not old enough to be vaccinated and in their school settings. So, yeah, we do have a number of thoughts in that arena for sure. Did you want to add anything? All set, Joseph. Welcome to over 44. Hi, I want to know if the state is looking into Essex County's vaccination rate. Right now it's the only county with an overall progress rate of 53%, whereas neighboring counties are showing vaccination rates in the high 50s and 70s. I wanted to know if there were any targeted efforts directed in Essex County. Yeah, we've come a long ways in Essex over the last month or so and we recognize that early on that we had to do more work and we used some of the barnstorming that we're using throughout the rest of the state because it was so beneficial there. So, we are definitely continuing to keep an eye on it. I will also say that it's not just Essex County, it's that whole northeast and I would include New Hampshire and Maine area as well that has been problematic in terms of vaccination rates, but I'll let Secretary Smith answer the rest of that. As the Governor mentioned, we've paid particular attention. I think if I'm recalling correctly, we've done two barnstorming events up there. We've gone to multiple towns over the course of a single day or two days. We've also had a drive-through that was very successful in, although Barton is in Orleans, it's right on the border up there. We've connected with a community hospital right across in Colbrook to vaccinate Vermonters and we have Lancaster that we have planned in that area as well. We'll continue to do outreach in that area and as the Governor said, where they are today is significantly different than where they were a few weeks ago and I think our barnstorming efforts have really started to pay off and we'll continue to do that as we move forward. Thank you. If I can ask one more thing. Yeah and also I'll have Secretary French talk about the school effort that we're doing. I've got to give the agency of education and health department and others really kudos on this. I mean over 100 vaccination clinics and over, you know, 55, I think it's 66 school sites that we're doing vaccination. Let me just turn it over to Secretary French where he can talk about the various school efforts in that region which is substantial. Yeah thanks. I just thought I'd mentioned real quick because it is a fairly sparsely area, a populated area, but we have a very strong deployment of clinics in Essex County starting next week on the 17th both at Concord graded school and at Lindenburg there'll be school clinics and then on the 19th in Canaan at the school and then at the Town Hall and Brighton Island Pond on the 19th as well. So I think we've covered the major sort of population corridors in that area so I was very pleased to see the schools stepping up to help participate in the process. Thank you. If I could ask one more thing, if children are struggling to get their parents permission to get the vaccine, is it possible at all where children could perhaps decide for themselves? I haven't heard that there's a struggle but I don't believe that's they're able to do that without their parents authorization. All right thank you. Eric, seven days. Hi everyone. The CDC announcement about masking recommendation seemed to surprise most folks, myself included. I'm wondering if it surprised you and if so why the state has decided to implement this new guidance immediately. I think I've read that some other states are taking a bit more time to mold over. Yeah, interesting. It did catch us by surprise, although we had heard with Dr Fauci speaking to some of the networks about you know moving forward with some sort of lifting of restrictions for those who are vaccinated. We ourselves have been talking about this for two or three weeks and wondering when the right time was because again our rates here in Vermont are favorable and I can't overemphasize how well we're doing here in some respects because the CDC came out with this guidance and decided to lift the restrictions across the nation and there's a full gamut of states that have our you know when you compare us to let's say I think Mississippi might be the lowest performing to us the the gap is incredibly wide but they felt it was safe even for those states to to move forward with this unmasking of those who are vaccinated. So keep that in mind. We're the number one state and and they've they've allowed all states and think it's it's safe for them to do it. So that would tell us that we're moving in the right direction. So regardless of whether they had come out with this yesterday I believe in the next few days we would have announced something similar anyways. Yeah it seems you know one of the one of the features of your administration's response to the pandemic has been to has been to be as methodical as possible and to telegraph changes before before they come. Do you expect that the sort of suddenness of this change will lead to some confusion as businesses and local governments try to figure out what they want to do for their property? Yeah I do think that there's a benefit to foreshadowing and to so that people preparing businesses and people in general for what's going to happen to get them accustomed to whatever transition they have to make. So yeah I think that they're there should have been maybe a little bit more emphasis on this on the federal level but but it is what it is and we'll get through it and that's why I keep saying you know by the fourth of July we plan to lift if not before all restrictions. So we have to prepare ourselves as we move between now and six weeks from now there'll be some other I believe lifting of restrictions in our own state. Thank you and last thing is will the universal guidance for businesses be updated with respect to the six foot social distancing requirements that are currently in place will that also be listed? Whatever step three is maybe I'm not understanding the question. Oh I'm wondering if the if the change with respect to masking and social distancing following the CDC's announcement will translate to an update to the universal guidance for businesses which as far as I see requires social distancing. Yeah we are we are adopting the CDC guidance so that will prevail the CDC guidance. Okay thanks. Hi governor I'm just planning I'm just curious if you're planning to sign H-225 a bill that would legalize the possession of small amounts of abuse in our team? Yeah I haven't seen the bill yet obviously I know that it exists and I believe it's passed both the House and the Senate and is headed to us and whether we have it or not I just don't know but we'll take a look at it. I was you know admittedly resist a bit resistance to the resistant to the idea in the beginning but but I was comforted if it holds because I'm not sure this path passed both bodies but the having the sunset in there gave me some comfort so we'll see whether that continues to exist if they have a conference committee or whether they accept changes from the Senate and again you might be able to tell me Ellie has a past officially passed both bodies? Yes it has. Okay so it will be heading to and I don't know whether that sunset provision was included or not but but that was a that will be a big factor for me. Thank you. Chris Roy, Newport Daily Express? Yes thank you good afternoon. I'm hearing from a couple of veterans groups up here in the Northeast Kingdom who are wondering if there's financial assistance for them because of COVID and where they can get that financial assistance whether they apply for it and at the same group would like to know if there's any rebates on their lucky licenses considering they could only use their licenses for only about half a year. As far as the veterans are concerned I would I don't know about what types of benefits you're talking about but that probably is a better question for the VA and we can put them in touch with them but I'm not aware of what what financial benefits there are for them. In terms of the liquor licenses I know there's been some discussion on that internally but I don't know where we ended up with that to be honest with you Chris I can get back to you. Okay yes I would appreciate that if you would please. Yep okay thank you. Regulations are changing and more people can be inside without distancing six be specifically those fully vaccinated. Why not open all schools to full in person now? Why wait until September? Well again they are open as far as I'm concerned we there's nothing from from the state perspective that would preclude them from reopening. It's all done on a local level but I guess Secretary French to add to that. Yeah hi I think you know as Dr. Levine mentioned schools are not covered by the CDC announcement and you know basically we still have a large number of people in the school buildings namely the students themselves that are not vaccinated so we have to keep that at the forefront of our planning as we're thinking about the future. Dr. Levine have you heard any whispers or anything from other health officials about potential mask guidelines for schools since this initial announcement did not include them? Well the initial announcement was very specific to say that they were not included so so I think that's probably what we have at this point in time. I'm not hearing murmurings that that's going to evolve into something different. Thank you. Sure. Eric the Times-Argus. Yes Governor on Tuesday Secretary Smith said that the state had been requesting 4,480 extra doses of vaccine and today you said we got 5,000 so did we get more than we asked for? I think I was rounding up to be honest with you. I think your number I know was 4,000 something let me let me get it for you exactly. 4,660 yeah 4,660. So is that more than we were correct before not that it's a vaccine? They're technically just to be with full disclosure they're giving us around double that amount but that includes first and second doses so I don't want to complicate things but they're actually giving us upwards to 10,000 doses so we we are only allowed under this provision to ask for 50 percent of whatever our allotment is so that's what I think we went to the maximum of that in order to get as much as we possibly could. Okay thank you. Lastly I think in record time and don't ruin this now Andrew Andrew could go on for the next 45 minutes. Yes thank you good afternoon. This is for Dr. Levine. I know Dr. French and you just alluded to this a bit earlier but I received an email a few minutes ago from a school nurse here in the kingdom that's listening to this conference and is hoping that you can give a clear and specific statement on the ongoing match requirements in schools for the remainder of the year. Yeah that's Levine. Yes I can give that clear statement. Students, staff, teachers no change in anything. Continue to wear a mask. And would that apply say staff during a faculty meeting when students are no longer on campus at situations like that and is there still a universal if you're on a school campus mask there are required scenarios? Yeah there are always all these what ifs but I would at this point I would say that it's the setting the school setting so anything that occurs within the building follows the same guidance. And thank you for that I'm sure that'll be well received by the nurse. What about the remaining sector specific guidance that that still existed for instance sports you know like a Babe Ruth team with with older kids that have been vaccinated that previous that you know under the current guidance needs to wear a mask in the dugout things like that any changes in regards to masking and sports guidance thinking maybe an adult hockey league it's an indoor sport but the adults might be back and things like that. Yeah this is the material that we'll take up at our restart meeting so we don't create the policy here today so stay tuned for more on that. Okay all right I won't disrupt the record time thank you for answering my question. Well thank you very much Andrew for that with that in record time we'll we'll see you again on Tuesday and expect on Tuesdays that we will be maskless for those who don't wish to wear a mask to this media event they don't have to if they're fully vaccinated so most of us are here on the that come to the podium so you can expect that on Tuesday thank you very much have a good and safe weekend and get your vaccination for those who haven't done so yet


Hey there friends, thanks for checking in. Today we're going to do a comparison with the new Ruger American Competition model versus the Canik TP9 SFX. The Ruger was released a couple weeks ago. The Canik's been around for three years, but when I introduced the American Competition, many people requested this comparison review and so we're going after it today. Both have very attractive MSRP prices. The Canik is $5.55. The American is $5.79. Now for those who understand the prices, the average prices on competition models, both of those are incredible prices. Let's see what comes in the case. Here's the Canik case. Canik, known for offering a lot, does come with a holster, board brush, paperwork, speed loader, a backstrap, four mounting plates for optics, an additional magazine, and this little case here has additional magazine posts or buttons of different heights or whatever. It's kind of interesting, along with some additional fiber optic pieces for the front sight. The American Competition model does not come with as much, but what it does have are two grip modules. All right, so you can custom fit the shooter's hand size using these grip modules. The one that came, in the case, fits my average size hands really well. I find no need to switch those out. But I think both these guns are incredible bargains. And let's do a little side by side here. All right, there is a size difference. The Canik has a 5.2 inch barrel. The American has a 5 inch barrel. And if we look at it from this perspective, we can see that the Canik has a longer grip. The reason being is that they have 20 round magazines. These are made by Metgar, does have a plus two base plate, does come with two magazines. The American Competition also comes with two magazines, but they are 17 round mags. All right, so we're looking at, you know, an additional three rounds. Advantage Canik. And Advantage Canik with what it's offered or what is offered in the case. Let's start with the American Competition. Nice gritty texture on the grip. I like the ergos on the competition a little better. It just, it feels really nice. And I feel like those modules make a difference. So I'm going, I'm giving the Ruger the Ergo advantage. It's also ambidextrous. So I'm not a lefty, but those who are would definitely say, you know, with the slide stop of the mag release on both sides, Advantage Ruger with that. It does come with this plate that can be removed and it is drilled and tapped to fit. I think six different red dots and the rear sight does not have to be removed to do that. So Advantage Ruger on that. It's adjustable, does have a sight hole indicator. So rated top of the slide, green fiber optic front sight, lightning cuts in the slide, a pick rail, and a nice overall feel and well balanced pistol. Now let's take a look at the Canik TP9 SFX. Additional backstrap. Already talked about that. Not a bad, you know, not a bad ergonomic feel to it. I just like the Ruger a little bit more. Gray tungsten slide looks beautiful. This plate comes off. Mounting plates in the case. Rear sight has to come off with it. It does have lightning cuts, much like the Ruger. Red fiber optic front sight, serrated rears adjustable. Striker fire indicator. All right. Pick rail. But I like the way this trigger guard comes like to 90 degrees, maybe a little more here. It just is rounded off more. I think there's enough space in each to add fingers with gloves. But where Canik is going to shine is the trigger pull. And that is measuring right at four pounds even, but a very short reset. Check that out. Now with the American competition, I'm measuring that five and a half pounds. All right, which is similar with the American pistols. Five and a half pounds. So you're looking at a shorter reset, a lighter trigger pull, advantage TP9 SFX. One thing that I like on the Ruger, I like that green fiber optic front sight, but it is larger. So it stands out more to me with the serrated black rear sights. Let's go ahead and disassemble the pistols. We'll see that the TP9 SFX has a captured recoil spring and guide rod 5.2 inch barrel. And here we'll lock the slide back, drop that lever. No need to pull the trigger. And here we have a captured recoil spring and a five inch barrel. No great advantage that I can tell as far as the disassembled process is concerned. Let's go ahead and get these guns on the scale. Unloaded weight for the American competition 34 and a quarter ounces. We have a loaded mag here, 17 rounds and it's weighing in at 41 and three eighths ounces. Here we have an unloaded TP9 SFX quite a bit lighter, 29 and seven eighths ounce, so approximately 30 ounces. But to be fair, I put 17 rounds in this, not 20. And we're looking at 37 ounces, so approximately four ounces lighter with the TP9 SFX. Does that make a difference with a competition gun? I don't think so, but there again, I'm not a great competition person, so they will decide. But what I have to do now is take these out to the range and shoot them side by side. So let me go ahead and do that and we'll get another closer look at these two pistols. At this time in the review, I put myself in the hot seat and choose one if I could only choose one. Both of these are amazing shooters. They're priced right, they function extremely well and I am glad I had a chance to get out here and shoot them side by side. I could talk about the country it was produced and the customer service, both of those would benefit Ruger. But for this review, I'm strictly sticking with the features and the shooting impressions. And given that, I really enjoy the four pound trigger with the Canik TP9 SFX. So if I had to choose one, this would be my choice. I think both of them are incredible competition handguns. If you like videos like this, please subscribe and share. 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