COVID-19

COVID-19 Guidance for Health Care Professionals

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 18:47:48 +0000

COVID-19 Guidance for Health Care Professionals

olh_Sharon.Muellers Tue, 10/25/2022 - 14:47

Recent changes to CDC's Respiratory Virus Guidance do not affect health care guidance. Please continue to use the guidance on the Long-Term Care facilities webpage and Health Care Professionals webpage.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 18:47:09 +0000

COVID-19 Vaccine

olh_Sharon.Muellers Tue, 10/25/2022 - 14:47

Updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines are now available across Vermont

Check your health insurance benefits.
Contact your pharmacy or health care provider to find out which vaccines are available and to make an appointment.
If you are under 65 years old and you don't have a primary care provider or health insurance, local health offices have vaccines available for free by appointment.

Stay Up to Date with Your Vaccines

Everyone 6 months and older should get one dose of the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine if it has been at least two months since their last dose of any COVID-19 vaccine. This year’s vaccines protect against serious illness from more current strains of the virus.

Some people may need additional doses, including:

People aged 6 months and older who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.
Children under 5, depending on timing and previous COVID-19 vaccinations.
Adults age 65 and older.

Three COVID-19 vaccines were updated for 2024-2025—Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and how they work (CDC)

Know your rights when getting vaccines.

You do NOT need insurance to get vaccinated. You may be asked if you have insurance for reimbursement reasons, but you cannot be denied vaccination if you have no insurance.
You do NOT need to share a Social Security Number or driver’s license/state ID number. In Vermont, you are not required to provide that information, and you cannot be turned away from getting vaccinated if you do not provide identification. If you do provide it, it will only be used for the pharmacy's reimbursement purposes.
You do NOT need to be a U.S. citizen. Everyone can receive COVID-19 services, regardless of immigration status. Information you share will not be shared with immigration services and vaccinations paid for by the federal government will not impact anyone’s current or future immigration status.

Learn more at Vermont Health Equity Initiative

COVID-19 Testing

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 18:46:28 +0000

COVID-19 Testing

olh_Sharon.Muellers Tue, 10/25/2022 - 14:46

How to Get Tested in Vermont

At-home antigen tests (also called rapid tests or self-tests) meet many testing needs and may be available at pharmacies and retail stores in Vermont. Many test expiration dates have been extended. Check the FDA information on tests to learn more.

Buy online or in pharmacies and retail stores: Now that the Public Health Emergency declaration for COVID-19 has ended, health insurance plans may no longer cover the costs of these tests. Please contact your health insurance company directly to learn more.
Search online for locations that offer no-cost COVID-19 testing: Find a location convenient for you, then visit the provider’s website to make an appointment. Use the CDC No-Cost Testing Locator tool
Contact your health care provider: Medical practices may offer other COVID-19 testing options.

When to Get Tested

If you have symptoms of COVID-19, test as soon as possible ─ even if your symptoms are mild or if you previously had COVID-19.
If you are using at-home antigen tests, please follow the FDA recommendations on testing with antigen tests. This includes testing more than once, each 48 hours apart.

If you test positive and you are age 50 or older or have a medical condition that may put you at risk for serious illness, reach out to your health care provider to ask about treatment as soon as you get a positive test result.

Learn more about COVID-19 treatment from the Health Department

Learn About Test Types

At-home antigen test:

Image courtesy of the CDC

Recommended if you have symptoms of COVID-19 or think you may have recently been exposed to someone infected with COVID-19.
Recommended if you have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 90 days.
If you are symptomatic and test negative, multiple tests should be taken at least 48 hours apart. See Reduce Your Risk of False Negative Results (FDA)
Approved for ages 2 and older.

PCR test:

Image courtesy of the CDC

More sensitive in detecting the virus than antigen tests.
As recommended by your provider after clinical evaluation.
May take a few days to get results.
Approved for all ages.

COVID-19 Symptoms & Treatment

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 18:45:43 +0000

COVID-19 Symptoms & Treatment

olh_Sharon.Muellers Tue, 10/25/2022 - 14:45

As of March 6, this page has been updated to align with new CDC recommendations. This guidance does not apply to health care workers, long-term care facilities or other health care settings such as hospitals.

Learn more on guidance updates from CDC

Symptoms

People with COVID-19 may have a wide range of symptoms, including no symptoms at all, mild or moderate symptoms, or needing medical attention for severe illness. Even people with no symptoms can spread the virus to others. Common symptoms of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses can include fever, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose and headache.

What to Do if You Are Sick

If you are feeling sick with respiratory virus symptoms:

Avoid contact with others, including people you live with who are not sick.
Consider testing for COVID-19 to help you decide if you need to take more steps to protect yourself and others. If you test negative for COVID-19, you may be sick with another respiratory virus that you can spread to others.
Talk to a health care provider about treatment and other options if you are at risk of getting very sick or your symptoms get worse. Groups at higher risk for severe illness include young children, older adults, people with weakened immune systems, people who are pregnant, and people with disabilities.

Returning to Normal Activities

You can still spread the virus to others, even if you are feeling better. If you develop a fever or start to feel worse, avoid contact with others again until you feel better.

Your work place, school or child care program may have different return policies. Please check with those organizations directly to learn more.

You can go back to your normal activities after at least one day (24 hours) if:

Your symptoms are getting better overall
and
You have not had a fever for at least 24 hours (and are not using fever-reducing medicines).

After returning to normal activities, take extra prevention steps for the next 5 days.

Any of these prevention steps can help limit the spread of respiratory viruses. The more steps you take, the lower your risk of getting others sick.

Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands often with soap and water or use hand sanitizer, cover your coughs and sneezes, and clean and disinfect surfaces as much as possible.
Keep physical distance with other people as much as possible.
Improve air quality. Take additional steps for cleaner air such as bringing in fresh outside air, using an air filter, or gathering outdoors.
Wear a mask. Look for a well-fitting, high-quality mask, or a disposable mask under a cloth mask. Masks are a good protection measure for all respiratory viruses.

Learn more at CDC

Preventing COVID-19

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 18:45:06 +0000

Preventing COVID-19

olh_Sharon.Muellers Tue, 10/25/2022 - 14:45

COVID and other respiratory viruses, like flu, RSV and colds, can be especially difficult for those who are at higher risk of getting very sick due to certain medical conditions or being immunocompromised. There’s a lot you can do to keep yourself and your loved ones healthy.

Stay Up to Date on Vaccinations

Vaccines are one of the best tools we have to protect ourselves against COVID-19–especially for people at higher risk of getting very sick. Protect yourself and your loved ones by staying up to date with your vaccines. In the fall or winter, you can save time and get your COVID-19 and flu shot at the same visit!

More on COVID-19 vaccines and where to get them

Prevent the Spread of Germs

Whether it’s COVID-19, flu, RSV or another contagious illness, everyday measures can protect you from getting sick or spreading germs:

Wash your hands often with soap and water.
Cover your coughs and sneezes with your elbow or tissue.
Avoid contact with others if you or they are sick.
Consider wearing a mask, especially if you or people you are with are at higher risk of serious illness, or if you have recently been around someone with symptoms of COVID-19. Learn more and find free N95 masks (CDC)

Get Tested When Needed

Get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms or if you were recently a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19. It's especially important to get tested if you are at higher risk for COVID-19, so you can reach out to your health care provider to ask about treatment.

Learn more about testing

Talk to Your Doctor About Prevention and Treatment Options

Antibiotics do not treat viruses, like those that cause colds, flu, RSV or COVID-19. For most people, respiratory viruses usually go away in a week or two without treatment.

Anti-Viral Medicines to Treat Illness

If you tested positive for COVID-19 or flu and are at risk of getting very sick, your doctor may prescribe an anti-viral medicine. Anti-viral medicines can help reduce your symptoms, length of illness, and risk of needing medical attention. Adults ages 50 and older, and those with certain medical conditions are at higher risk of serious illness for COVID-19 and flu. Babies and children under 5 are also at higher risk of getting very sick from flu.

Learn more about treatment for COVID-19
Learn more about treatment for flu (CDC)

For People Who Are Immunocompromised

Immunocompromised means a person’s immune system might not be able to offer enough protection - even after vaccination - putting them at higher risk of serious illness. This could be due to a medical condition or from other medicines or treatments. Please contact your health care provider to understand prevention measures and possible treatment options if you are exposed or get sick with COVID-19.

More guidance for people who are immunocompromised (CDC)

COVID-19 Data

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 18:44:07 +0000

COVID-19 Data

olh_Sharon.Muellers Tue, 10/25/2022 - 14:44

COVID-19 Therapeutics

Thu, 21 Jul 2022 12:37:00 +0000

COVID-19 Therapeutics

This page is intended for health care professionals. For general information about COVID-19 treatment, please visit the COVID-19 Symptoms and Treatment page.

adm-kristen.cameron Thu, 07/21/2022 - 08:37

Long Term Care and Group Living Settings

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 16:04:05 +0000

Long Term Care and Group Living Settings

This information is for long-term care facilities, other supportive group living setting, and their staff. If you are a member of the public, or a loved one of someone living in a long-term care facility, and are looking for information about specific facilities, please contact the facility directly.

The Health Department works closely with the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) and long-term care facilities to help them prepare for cases of COVID-19. Other types of group living settings, also called congregate care settings, can follow strategies to detect and prevent the spread of respiratory viruses like COVID-19.

For return-to-work and other guidance for staff with COVID-19 or COVID-19 exposure, please see CDC's Interim Guidance for Managing Healthcare Personnel with SARS-CoV-2 Infection or Exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

olh_Sharon.Muellers Fri, 10/30/2020 - 12:04

Long-Term Care Facilities are encouraged to report new COVID-19 situations (one or more cases of COVID-19 in your facility) using the Vermont Department of Health Online Outbreak Report Form. Do not use this link to update ongoing outbreaks that have already been reported to us. Phone or email can also be used to report cases to the Department. Positive COVID-19 test results should still be reported to the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).

The federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) declaration ended on May 11, 2023. This memo below summarizes how this change affects Vermont's long-term care facilities:

Long-Term Care Guidance After COVID-19 Public Health Emergency memo