Connecticut River Area Health District Prepares for Vaccination Effort
Connecticut expects to receive an initial batch of vaccines as early as late December, according to Scott Martinson, director of health for the Connecticut River Area Health District (CRAHD). Across the state, area health districts like CRAHD will be immediately tasked with vaccinating “critical workforce groups,” including police, firefighters, EMS providers, public health staff, and municipal and education personnel, he said.
In addition to its member towns, which are Chester, Clinton, Deep River, Haddam, and Old Saybrook, CRAHD will take the lead in vaccinating those same groups in Westbrook, Essex, and Killingworth, Martinson said. The health departments of Westbrook, Essex, and Killingworth will partner with CRAHD to ensure those critical groups have access to vaccines.
“We are not sure of other specifics at this point other than to be ready for a small allocation of COVID-19 vaccine by the third week of December,” he said. “It certainly will not be enough to do all the critical workforce, but we are hopeful many more allocations will be quickly received.”
Two companies, Pfizer and Moderna, are currently awaiting emergency use authorizations (EUAs) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Assuming the authorizations are granted, vaccines will be distributed to states right away. Connecticut expects initial shipments of 165,000 to 220,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 220,000 to 330,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, according to Kathy Kudish, immunization program manager at the state Department of Public Health. Two doses of the same vaccine are required by each patient for it to be effective.
Westbrook’s Health Department is reaching out to those eligible for the first round of vaccines.
“For those who have been identified as being part of our critical workforce, we have sent out pre-registration links...for the upcoming vaccination day,” the date of which hasn’t yet been determined, explained Westbrook Director of Health Zachary Faiella. This will provide some idea of the number of those requiring vaccinations during this first round.
While those designated will not be required to get the vaccine, “we hope all of the region’s critical workforce will be vaccinated,” he continued. “In our pre-registration message...I included some benefits/reasoning of getting the COVID vaccine to assist in community vaccination, as I understand there will be some hesitancy.”
Former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama announced on Dec. 3 that they would get the vaccine on camera in order to demonstrate that it was safe to do so.
As of mid-November, Connecticut had been awarded $2.4 million in federal funds for the vaccination effort. While Deirdre Gifford, Connecticut’s acting public health commissioner, said vaccinations are a state priority, current federal funding is “not really adequate to the task.”
“The governor has been clear that we’re going to have an effective and robust vaccine administration strategy,” she said. “Although we hope and trust that our federal partners will come through, we’re continuing to do the work.
“Those of us who have worked in public service for a while are very good at maximizing our federal funding and maximizing our staff and shifting our resources,” she continued. “So we will make this process work.”
Logistics will be a challenge at every level of administration of the state’s vaccination effort.
“This type of mass vaccination has never been done before and it will take great collaboration/partnership between all of the municipalities and their respective local health departments and the state,” said Faiella.