announcer: you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's television companies in 1979. today, we are brought to you by these television companies, who provide c-span to viewers as a public service. ♪ announcer: listen to c-span's podcasts, "the weekly." we are talking to robert browning, who directs the c-span 'rchives, about congress increasing use of lame-duck lessons to tackle big-ticket legislation. find "the weekly," where you get your podcasts. next, governor scott provides an update on his state's response to the coronavirus surge and pandemic.

he talks about the latest covid-19 relief and government funding package and expresses hopes lawmakers will see it through to the end of the votes. this is an hour. gov. scott: i want to thank everyone for taking the time to tune in today. i know that many begin holiday festivities today, on christmas eve. dr. levine and i will be somewhat brief, but we thought it was important to keep to our twice weekly schedule and make sure that we update vermonters on the latest number of cases in -- and the vaccine rollout before heading into a holiday weekend for many. before getting into the updates, i want to continue highlighting acts of kindness, service, and goodwill throughout vermont.

let me talk a little bit about the mary hogan school in middlebury. after hearing about the waves of kindness initiative, the students and staff were inspired and wanted to help brighten spirits during the holiday season. the pre-k to sixth grade students wanted to do their part, so they got creative making art projects with inspiring messages of hope. they worked with the better middlebury partnership to connect with local businesses and now on the storefront windows and doors throughout the community, you can find these messages from students. they even made a video to highlight their work. now, i would like to show you what they have been up to. [video clip] ♪ >> [indiscernible]

we are trying to spread kindness kindness and hope. it is important for everybody to stay strong and know that we will get through this together. ♪ >> so, i made this part. i wrote -- on it. because that equals happiness. [indiscernible] ♪

>> [indiscernible] ♪ students: [indiscernible] gov. scott: this is exactly what the vermont way of life is all about, encouraging people to get creative in their communities and add a little happiness as we close out this very difficult year. i want to thank all the students and the staff at school, as well as the small businesses and their partners for helping to make this happen, to set an example for all of us. -- you set an example for all of

us. now, not all of these acts of kindness are as visible, but they are meaningful. i recently learned about, in vermont, they saw their neighbor bringing home five gallons of fuel every couple of days to heat her home. she obviously couldn't afford delivery, so the neighbor anonymously sent her gallons of fuel. she may never know who it was. neighbors helping neighbors is what vermont is all about. every day, i hear or see stories like these, and it gives me hope. and it is why i have been so confident in these nine long months that we will get through this, and in the end, we will be stronger for it. i hope that these stories inspire you, as well. because the world that we live in could certainly use more acts of kindness in order to give us

hope, and hope for others, as well. i know it's been hard. i know that sacrifice is needed -- the sacrifices needed to stay safe is difficult, especially during the holidays. but vermont is strong, and we are united, and we will get through this as long as we stick together. i want to wish all of those who celebrate a happy and safe christmas. please enjoy this time and do so safely, and know that we will be back together, in person, in the months ahead. for now, i will turn it over for an update on vaccines and some parting guidance for the holidays. >> thank you. in terms of data, today, we are reporting 92 new cases. we have, unfortunately, three additional deaths.

as a physician, i'm acutely aware of the fact that the holidays do not always bring good tidings to all, but our sympathies do go out to the families and friends. -- and our sympathies do go out to the families and friends. there are currently 22 patients hospitalized, with six in the icu. our epidemiology teams are working on 250 situations and outbreaks. based on our testing results, the seven-day positivity rate remains low, around 2.1%. over the past 10 months -- wow, 10 months -- many people have tested positive for covid. numbers in the hospital and lives lost. it has been an exceedingly tough year. our daily lives are strained, and we are having difficulty

finding joy in the season, as the nights go on. i do hope that there is solace in knowing that vermont has the lowest number of new cases rate, the lowest positivity rate, and death rate in the continental u.s. what has given me hope throughout this year is the effort to take in and take to heart the nature of what we have been facing and everything that we each need to do to handle this pandemic. -- to end this pandemic. it has been truly inspiring. i ask you to keep it up and to keep in mind to maintain the masks on faces, six-foot spaces, and avoid crowded places. it's that simple. there's even more hope now to end the pandemic. yesterday, vermont received 11,400 doses of the newly authorized moderna vaccine, with the anticipated allocation of

pfizer, we are on track to receive 34,000 doses by new year. -- by new year's. the totals for allocation in weeks one and two of pfizer and moderna has been 21,725 doses. there have been 6382 covid vaccine doses administered to vermont residents. if you do the math, that is approximately 30%. i will point out that nationwide, it's about 10% of the 10 million doses allocated so far. and as promised, yesterday, we launched our vermont vaccine dashboard. you will find it at healthvermont.gov/covid-19/ vaccine/data.

the dashboard shows the number of people vaccinated and the doses administered. as the numbers grow, you can see the vaccination rates by sex, age, ethnicity, and county. the dashboard will continue to undergo more changes as more information becomes available. for now, in part because we are in the early stages of vaccine distribution, it will be updated every wednesday by noon. i anticipate over the coming weeks, we will be able to provide more frequent updates. i want to thank our immunization and data teams for their excellent and rapid work in continuing to provide this level of information to vermonters. as we discussed on tuesday, immunizations have already been initiated at larger care facilities, along with health care in the phase one a group, 1a group, who continue

to be vaccinated. earlier this week, the advisory committee on immunization practices made recommendations with populations to be included in phase 1b. yesterday, the implementation advisory group met to consider the recommendations to help in finalizing the vermont plan. we expect that their final recommendations will come in one week. we are working to protect vermonters and americans, and please remember that we have only just started on what is a long road, and the message for everyone is to be patient. this is going to take some time. time, obviously, related to the production rate and distribution of the vaccine from the manufacturers, and a number of vaccine platforms that get early use authorization in the coming year.

there are nearly 630,000 people in vermont, and a very large number of people to be vaccinated just in priority group 1a, with another large number expected in group 1b. it's a huge and logistically complex undertaking, perhaps the most complicated nationwide, nevermind statewide, immunization effort since the early 20th century. we will vaccinate vermont as fast as possible. we are receiving shipments weekly. we will be sharing what's allocated to vermont on a population proportion basis. based on theill be approach to ensure that everyone that can be vaccinated and wishes to be vaccinated has that opportunity. but again, this will take time.

for those of you who aren't generally good health, -- who are in generally good health, it may be several months before you receive your vaccine. even for those of us who must be patient, every dose being given out right now makes the difference for all of us. for every vermonter vaccinated, it benefits us all. the amount of virus circulating is a factor in our risk of exposure. as more vaccine arrives in vermont and as more people are vaccinated, the risks within our own borders will grow smaller and smaller. it will take time, but in the meantime, patient cooperation is critical to an effective process. you will be made aware when vaccine is available to you and when or where to get it. please, don't call or reach out to hospitals about when and where it will be available. hundreds of people are working to make this process happen. to put it simply, hang tight, the vaccine is coming.

i will finish with what might sound gloomy, but it is actually rooted in the optimism i feel as the days get longer and vaccine becomes more plentiful. as i said on tuesday, the daily number of new covid cases in vermont continues to be higher than just a couple of months ago. we haven't reported fewer than 50 cases since november 27, but the virus numbers are stabilizing, and daily numbers of cases in high double digits are still not good news, and i don't want anyone to consider this to be the new normal that we should expect every day. each and every case are real people. nearly 7000 now. people with families, people with stories of their lives. and the loved ones of 120 of them are now represented by empty seats at the table.

i say this in the spirit of reminding myself and all of us to keep that in mind as we work together to get this virus under control. to remember the toll it takes on anyone who gets it. to take it seriously, if you get it, whether it is minor symptoms or they find themselves in an icu, and the responsibility we all have together to prevent the spread. it just won't be the same this holiday season with small celebrations, and as we take time to celebrate being together in ways that are different, but perhaps not as we would hope, please, stay informed to stay well, and stick closely to the guidance. this really does have an endpoint. we could have hope that there will be many more people together around the table in the year to come.

back to the governor. gov. scott: thank you, dr. levine. we will now open it up to questions. >> as discussed, folks, we are hoping to get everybody out of here as soon as possible. so we can start our holiday. we are going to have everyone just take one question. let's start with calvin. calvin: thank you, governor. dr. levine, you mentioned that so far out of all the vaccines that we have received, you have -- we have only administered some 6000 or a little over 6000 so far. i'm wondering i guess, why, why we haven't administered more. is there something that is holding us back in terms of staffing, or people that can administer them? why not faster, why not more? dr. levine: the process of

administering it is on two levels. one is at the health care, the health care workers, the hospitals at this point in time. making sure that they arranged for clinics, and that they schedule their employees for those clinics, and schedule all of the employees from one section at one time because of may -- if they get side effects, if they have to miss a day or two of work. and the complex work of all the people not employed by the hospital, the state health care workers in their region, with -- which includes practices, independent practices, primary care, ob/gyn, etc. the long-term care facilities are in the federal partnership policy program which also has clinics scheduled, the first of which just occurred on monday.

vermont was in one of the first 10 states to actually even use the vaccine for that purpose. ahead of the game there, as well. then it is on a nursing home by nursing home basis. they have had some challenges in getting it dispensed to all of those residents, as consent often needs to come from family members, and they have not achieved that universal yet. -- that universally yet. like the hospitals, they cannot vaccinate every employee at the the same timet since they already have the challenge of staffing issues. i do want to stress the fact that we are three times the rate of use of the vaccine then national numbers show at this point. i would like that to be looked

at as good news. one of thoseis, has gone to waste. it's not that people didn't seize it properly and couldn't use it, it's just a matter of all the systems in play to try to make sure that they can get all the residents of the nursing home and etc. vaccinated. gov. scott: as well, calvin, it's part of my nature, but we will get better at this as well. this is the first week. and we will continue to strive to become more efficient, more productive. thus far, we have done well. there is some lag time between those who have received the vaccine and those who can get it and can administer it. but i think you will see some improvement as time goes on. >> a question for governor scott, how are you planning to spend the holiday?

are you planning to take advantage of the guidance that families can gather with one other household? gov. scott: no, it will be my wife and i and my mom. we were planning this during the summer, just my mother. she lives in florida. she was going to come up. increasedaw the numbers, she made the tough decision not to come. my daughter, i have another daughter who lives in providence under the same types of conditions we are, so she's not coming here. this will be a very low-key christmas for us. >> thank you. >> when the vaccine becomes more widely distributed, will there be such things as pop-up vaccine sites? thanks for that question. we have all been talking as a team about when the vaccine is

more available, and as these larger priority groups come into play, how to efficiently and equitably get the vaccine to everyone. there will be a multipronged approach. some of them you will consider traditional, like going to your physician's office to get the vaccine. we think that that will especially be taken advantage of by those who are older and who have more chronic diseases, who see their physicians frequently, they can discuss the vaccine with them and have it administered at that office. we also have a great tradition of pharmacies playing a great role, and i can't believe that pharmacies won't continue to play a role in distributing the vaccine to that population. -- to the population. -- tell that population. -- distributive the vaccine to

that population. there's also what we call the point of distribution system that involves district health offices. they have always been great and steady partners in the administration and distribution process as well. we are in the planning stages activelyssing very what we call more mass vaccination events. it is very similar to what goes on in testing. whether that be at one of our new test sites, a place like the champlain exposition, etc., where you could get a very large number of people administered vaccine very quickly. assuming all the appropriate precautions and safeguards, etc., because no matter where you deliver the vaccine, within 15 minutes of observation, if

you have had a prior reaction, etc., taking all of that into account. it's a tremendous amount of planning going on. -- there's a tremendous amount of planning going on with regard to all those. and this year, the flu vaccine has achieved record numbers, the medical community has joined and partnered with us in being creative about other ways to get vaccine to people. as opposed to people to the vaccine. and i think we need to be very theghtful about that, with vaccine challenges provided, but where people are. we can effectively get it to them without it being a challenge to them. >> thank you. >> let's start with erin.

erin? vt digger? ok, we will move to wilson. >> hey, everybody. happy holidays to everyone. i'm kind of curious what you said a couple of minutes ago. i look back in my notes and i'm curious, are you telling people they should not call their doctors to say when can i get vaccinated? if that is the case, how should it be? would doctors offices reach out to their patients when it is time for patient x to be vaccinated? and if that is the case, how would people be vaccinated who don't have regular health care providers? dr. levine: all excellent questions. i am saying, as of december 24, don't call your doctor's office,

don't call your hospital, the health department, because for the majority of people, vaccination is not in the immediate future. we anticipate getting through priority group 1a through the month of january, and whatever 1b looks like, which will almost certainly have an age stratification to it, from the older ages down. that will take some time until it becomes real in terms of the number of doses coming into the state. having already gotten through 1a. so lots of people are feeling the need to reserve a spot on a list. the list doesn't exist. for most of the practices, they are calling, or the hospitals, or for the state, for that matter. to be very clear, when the prioritization scheme comes out, exactly who goes when will be

very publicly available information. it will be communicated through a whole host of conventional, as well as social media. it will also be effectively known by the health care community at that time, so they will be able to participate in that communication. and scheduling, as well. i'm saying december 24th, because so many people are already nervous about the fact that they need to be on a list or they will be at the end of a line, which is certainly not true, or just feeling like they need to make that connection, it will not change anything for them to do that. at the end of 1b, then they would be able to make an appointment? dr. levine: yes.

there are a lot of instructions we will be able to provide at that point in time. as you heard from my answer to the other question, there will be multiple opportunities to get vaccine. one of which will be with their doctor, if that is what they choose. will work with their own health care providers to understand that. i just had a conversation with one of the primary care practices in the state about pfizer's vaccine, and of course pfizer has very strict temperature regulations for the vaccine, but they are already exploring opportunities for them to do that at a central location. more central location where people from other practices will join them in the vaccine effort. so there are very many levels

from the state onto the health care providers at the individual level. >> thank you very much. >> i believe aaron -- gov. scott: i was just going to add, as well, to what dr. levine said, some of the complexities we are facing with the pfizer vaccine in particular, subzero temperature storage, moderna is refrigerated, but not at the same temperatures as the pfizer, and then we are hearing that possibly in the future, if johnson & johnson comes through, it may even be at room temperature. and single doses. so there's all kinds of different procedures in place that we have to conflate, who gets what when, to get the distribution in an expeditious way. >> alright. we are going to try erin again. from vt digger.

erin: hi. hi. thanks for coming back around. this week, the agency of education issued a memo extending their earlier guidance about questions about multi-household gatherings and daily health checks. obviously, the governor scrapped the provisions on households. [indiscernible] schools made no longer -- at all in the daily checks. gov. scott: secretary french, are you on? secretary french: yes, i am. good morning. the thinking on that was we look certainly at the condition. this was a very challenging piece of guidance for them.

at the time we implemented this, we weren't really sure of the trajectory of case counts. we felt comfortable with the guidance. -- that the guidance was no longer necessary. >> did you consider adding schools? secretary french: once again, the system is very complex. [indiscernible] specifically with this guidance, there's more complexity.

erin: ok. thank you. gov. scott: if you recall, about a month ago when we put this into place and took these steps to try and protect, we were seeing from contact tracing in particular that there were multi-household gatherings happening, whether it be parties or get-togethers, tailgate parties, and the like. what we are finding now, since we implemented that, that vermonters understand and got the message. we are not seeing the gathering we saw previous to this restriction put into place. so it is somewhat unnecessary. the guidance speaks for itself, and i think vermonters got the message. >> alright. liam? vpr? liam: hi.

president trump has been floating the idea that he could reject the aid package that congress approved earlier this week. governor, what is your reaction to the situation in washington? gov. scott: that is really unfortunate. there are so many, as i've highlighted over the past few weeks, many programs ending by the end of the year that are going to put vermonters and americans at risk. this is a dangerous game the president is playing. it would have been my hope if he had concerns about what he wanted to see any package that he would have been at the table long before now, and not just sit idly by watching the action take place, then passing, coming to a bipartisan agreement on the package, and not everybody got what they wanted, but they were satisfied that this was what was

best at this point in time for the american people. so i don't know what he's going to do. he has a few choices, one being just to veto it. but when you negotiate a piece of legislation, it means everyone is giving up something. so to take pieces out of it could unravel everything. that would be unfortunate. but i hope congress will again stick to their votes and see this through so that we can get relief to those in desperate need. >> there's obviously only so much you can do, what the state can do. are you contemplating any sort of contingency plans or actions to try and help vermonters who might be now again looking at losing unemployment benefits the day after christmas? gov. scott: the problem, as i articulated before, is that when

you have so many, there could be 10,000 to 20,000 vermonters that would lose their unemployment benefits almost immediately. so when you do the math, that is many millions of dollars that we don't have at our disposal. so i am still hopeful. i believe that congress will do the right thing and work their way through this. but until the president gets over his tantrum, we will have to see what happens. >> have you sent any letters, spoken with any other republic and governors at this time? gov. scott: i am not sure he would be listening to anyone else at this point.

i will have to leave it to congress to try and work their way through this. >> we are going to move to mike. >> thanks, rebecca. merry christmas, governor. gov. scott: thank you. >> dr. levine, you mentioned 43 outbreaks. [indiscernible] -- of those 43 outbreaks? dr. levine: i would want to say that you can't define the importance of an outbreak by a specific criteria, whether it be where it is or with the number associated with it is. so it is hard to have a top five or a top 10 list, if you will. these are all defined from the epidemiologic standpoint of the setting it is involved in and

the kinds of epidemiologic instances that are occurring. i can tell you that we have abundant numbers of cases in our long-term care facilities, as you know. those are obviously a very high concern because of the fact that, when people get sick in those settings, they often culminate in hospitalization and/or death. by that metric alone, it is really important. there are other aspects of our health care system that have cases, but not necessarily outbreaks. there are small outbreaks that are limited and containable, but nonetheless may be an outbreak. there are situations that have occurred across society, so it would be hard for me to really give you the kind of answer

you're looking for because they are all important, and our knowledge about them is as important as anything else to make sure that containment is the ultimate result. that is really the bottom line, if you will. knowing about them, making sure everyone who needs to isolate is isolated, making sure all of the contacts have been contacted and quarantined. in some cases, the light may go on for other people in the same workplaces, but that is the goal to contain it rapidly so that we can move on these quickly and keep our ultimate caseloads low and our ultimate number of people who get ill low. >> ok. thank you.

can you send the list over and we will take a look at it? [indiscernible] dr. levine: yes, we are able to share this with the usual numbers. >> this question is for dr. levine. have you heard reports this morning that dr. fauci has been inching up the numbers of people who would be needed to achieve herd immunity? what are your thoughts on that?

dr. levine: i am sure the governor wishes to join me in congratulating and wishing our best to dr. fauci, whose 80th birthday is today. he's actually given a range of 70% to 90% because either he admits that we really don't now, because we are dealing with a novel virus and we are not actually sure what will achieve herd immunity, but he estimates it is in the 70% to 90% range. the issue here is not what the exact number is. it is are there enough americans who now have trust in the vaccine who are not hesitant to receive vaccines, which will help protect not only themselves, but others in their family and in their circle getting vaccinated? the numbers look promising in that regard, with regard to surveys and people asking them

if they would take the vaccine or not, and having people like dr. fauci up your on camera getting the vaccine should help that effort, i would hope. but we do know that there's up to 20% of people that might not want to get the vaccine. if that is true, we hope that the number that is needed for herd immunity is 80% or less because that is what it will require. but as i said before, it is also the number who continue to abide by all of the usual guidance that helps prevent us transmitting virus from one person to another because our ultimate goal is to suppress this virus to a sufficient level that will allow us to get back to the kind of life we all want to lead again. so that is my answer to your question. >> thank you very much.

>> guy page? guy? >> yes, governor. as you look back on these unprecedented 10 months and analyze your leadership in fighting the pandemic, is there anything you would have done differently, looking back? gov. scott: from my perspective, may be a little too early to look back too much. we are still looking forward. but we will certainly take all of that into account so that we are ready if end when there is some other crisis of this magnitude in the future. but at this time, we are just doing every thing we think is right.

we know that there are times when we don't make the right decisions, but we are learning from others and others are learning from us, and we as a country are trying to do whatever we can to protect americans, and i think we have done a pretty good job here in vermont, but it is due to vermonters just being compliant, following the guidelines, the simple procedures. we will let the pundits decide what we could have done better, but at this point, i am satisfied with what we've done. but again, we know that there are always ways to do things better in retrospect. dr. levine? dr. levine: i would echo what the governor said. most of the evaluations we get from the outside are not harshly

critical of the approach, but at the same time, we recognize that there are 50 states plus a number of territories, and all of them have their own version of what they are doing to combat this pandemic. some are kind of in lockstep with the approach we have taken. may be others are very different than the approach we have taken. so a part of that evaluation will be in the end, when people look back, comparing the relative performances of states and what they may have done to either achieve that great performance or achieve a poor performance, and what they could have done to be better. i think there is one thing we do, we approach every day with humility, and we certainly are willing to learn from anybody because we don't know everything either.

when this pandemic started, we were all writing the playbook, even though there was a pandemic flu playbook from 2017 that was focused on influenza. it provided a little bit of help to the country, but there was not much else to go on except good public health practice and knowledge, and how to implant the programs across large populations, so we tried to do our best in that regard. even the first question today about how we got to a number of people vaccinated or not, it was only two weeks ago that that vaccine appeared, and at that time, not only did the vaccine logistics have to be taken care of in terms of getting it to the right places at the right time, but all the issues about what do we know about this vaccine, how do we educate people about it

quickly, the people getting it, the people administering it, and all of those playbooks were being written in a 72 hour period. some people will say only 30%, and others will say that is pretty impressive considering there was no vaccine on the planet two weeks ago, and nobody knew what to do with it. so that kind of process starts there. >> chris roy, newport a daily express. >> yes, no questions. just hope you have a great holiday. gov. scott: thanks, chris. >> hi, governor. looking at the newsfeeds, but clear would apply

retroactively. gov. scott: i believe that is the case, that would go back to this calendar year presumably, this month. but i would ask the mission or harrington if he has any additional information the not -- ask commissioner harrington if he was -- if he has any additional information or not. it is about this new package passed by congress, whether it would be retroactive back to the end date. there's been at least one program that i believe has ended at this point in time a week ago. is it retroactive to that date, or is it starting whenever it is in effect? >> thank you, governor. my understanding, based on what we received from the u.s. to

department of labor, is that based on their initial information, you can't go back in time, but if you were in a program that got an extension, you could be eligible for 11 weeks, but it would be 11 weeks from the start of the authorization of the bill. >> so not backwards from december possibly, that's what you're saying? >> correct. there is permission in the bill that it will commence following the authorization of the bill. so just to be clear, it is 11 full weeks of benefits.

i don't want to say they lose a week because again, the extension really talks about the actual number of weeks an individual can receive. so they could still receive the maximum number of weeks, but would be counted going forward, so they would have to remain unemployed for the next 11 weeks following the passing of the bill as opposed to counting may be a few weeks prior to the bill's authorization. so again, there is still that understanding that they can receive the maximum number of weeks. it just would not go backwards. >> thank you. gov. scott: we will try and clarify for you and others as we receive more information.

>> county courier. >> good morning, governor. given the time constraints today, i am just going to wish you a merry christmas, and your staff, those who work hard to keep this state going. merry christmas. gov. scott: thank you very much. merry christmas to you as well. >> tom, vermont standard. tom, the vermont standard? ok. we will go to andrew, caledonian record. >> yes, thank you. good morning. is there any more information on the outbreak at the community

center. if there is an outbreak like this, are you able to do vaccinations when folks may have already been exposed and are waiting for onset of symptoms? gov. scott: dr. levine? dr. levine: i don't have a specific update on what you mentioned, but in answer to your question, there are guidelines that have been put out by the cdc regarding vaccination in settings where there are outbreaks. we are using that guidance as we start with the long-term care facilities because obviously, a number of them do have outbreaks that are of concern. i want people to understand that vaccinations at that time in that setting is not necessarily

a strategy because it takes enough time for that to build up antibodies, etc., that most of the people who would have been exposed to the virus have already been exposed, and even if they aren't testing positive, they may subsequently test positive. they are incubating, if you will. but there are guidelines that allow you to do that at those times. the time that people are going to be delaying vaccinations has to do with people who have already tested positive and been ill. we want those people vaccinated, but probably not at that point in time, but several months later. also people who have received monoclonal antibody therapy because it could trigger an immune response. otherwise, everyone can get vaccinated when the vaccine is

available to them. >> ok, thank you. >> avery. >> governor, stores are having a hard time keeping christmas lights on the shelves. can you take any credit in causing that, or just general holidays? gov. scott: i can't take credit for it because i didn't buy them all, but certainly vermonters spent in all kinds of ways. i think it is the mood that people want to show, that there are some bright spots here, that we are all in this together, and they reacted accordingly. there were a number of communities planning this type of thing before i mentioned our initiative. but it's been really helpful in

many respects as we see many of these communities, individuals and so forth trying to just a little bit of happiness and life, and sometimes all that is is a declaration at their home or a facility, and now their organizations, as we saw the other day, coming down here into washington county i think drew a lot of attention, and i know it was appreciated by many. we have seen many influences like that, but it is not credit for me. it is credit to vermont for doing what we can to help others. >> thank you. this is tom from the standard. >> go ahead.

>> sorry, i was having some issues with my phone. i had a follow-up question regarding the rollout of the vaccine to skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities. i am not clear who will actually be administering the vaccines at those facilities. will it be local hospital personnel, the staff of the facilities themselves, or will it be representatives from the cdc? gov. scott: i believe it is the pharmacies, but i will let dr. levine answer that. dr. levine: yes, primarily the pharmacies themselves. i believe that there may be time for personnel for one of our local health offices to be enlisted, but the primary vaccinators are the pharmacies. that is the contract.

>> given the road to the moderna vaccine versus the pfizer vaccine, will most skilled nursing and assisted living facilities will utilize the modern vaccine? dr. levine: it is the contrary. they are all being given the pfizer vaccine because they have demonstrated the ability to store it appropriately. because these are all prescheduled in each facility, they know exactly what day they are going to which facility, and the approximate number of doses they need to have. so they have preferentially gotten the pfizer vaccine. that is actually something that all of the states agreed on together as a strategy.

it's simplified the process for me as well. >> thank you very much, and happy holidays to all of you. >> i believe we have one follow-up question from mike donahue. >> governor, your comment about the lights, you not being the primary source for it. but the reality is somebody's got to drive the bus, and you are driving the bus. like i said at thanksgiving time, thank you for what you are doing. you got great people around you. gov. scott: thanks very much.

as you might know, i do like to drive, so driving the bus is fine with me. [laughter] but as i learned in my years of racing, all the success i had, i got all the accolades for winning a race, but the real reason i won is because of the team, putting together a good car, having all the ingredients to get that win. so it is not all the driver. it is the team behind it and the equipment you have. so i am blessed to be surrounded by really talented people, and talented vermonters willing to do whatever is necessary to help their neighbors. that is the story that i told during my remarks about the one neighbor seeing another, coming home with five gallons of fuel to get through the day or the next couple of days, and then purchasing 100 gallons of fuel for them anonymously. i think it speaks volumes about

who we are as vermonters, and that inspires me. it inspires each and every one of you to do whatever you can to help one another, regardless of whether you agree with them or even like them. you tend to help them out. >> thank you. gov. scott: again, record time, but i thank you all very much for tuning in, and i wish you a very peaceful, safe, and small celebration for those of you who celebrate christmas in the next couple of days. we will see you back on tuesday. hopefully we will have more information for you, and the modeling as well, but again, thank you very much for tuning in. >> you are watching c-span.

by america'seated cable television companies in 1970 nine. today, we are brought to you by these cable television companies. >> american history tv on c-span three. exploring the people and events that tell the american story. , jacqueline kennedy's goodwill trip to asia. which documents her trip to india and pakistan. then, take a virtual tour of the --ght d. eisenhower air library and museum. watch american history tv this weekend.

>> next, a look at some of the final speeches from members of congress who are retiring or lost reelection. first, we will hear from representative dan lipinski who was defeated by marie newman. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rep. lipinski: when i was a professor teaching american government, before i was elected to congress, the first thing i would do when beginning to teach a class about congress and the legislative process would be to show this video -- the three minute "schoolhouse rock" cartoon video from the 1970s, called "i'm just a bill." the cartoon begins with a group of constituents calling their congressman with an idea for a new law. the congressman introduces a bill, which goes through house committee debate and ame