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03/01/2021 11:00 PMAs local officials in Chester, Deep River, and Essex are busy preparing budgets for the next fiscal year, Governor Ned Lamont's proposed budget shows state aid remaining flat.
“My goal is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, and I believe this is the best path to meeting that challenge,” said Lamont in a written statement on Feb. 22.
The most recent expansion of eligibility came on March 1, for individuals in the 55 to 64 age group. Previously, the next groups in line were to be essential workers, such as those in grocery stores, and individuals aged 16 and up with underlying health conditions.
“I think he just thought it was going to be way too complicated to figure out who got to be included in the (next) group and who didn’t,” said Chester First Selectman Lauren Gister at a Feb. 24 Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting.
“Any line that they had to draw in the sand was going to be pretty arbitrary and he didn’t want it to be arbitrary,” Gister continued.
Staff and teachers in pre-K to 12 schools, along with childcare providers, are also now eligible, as of March 1, under the governor’s new plan, with clinics designed specifically for these individuals.
This group will be prioritized by the Connecticut River Area Health District (CRAHD), which operates a vaccination clinic at the Old Saybrook Middle School.
“They will be honoring the current appointments…they will be honoring anyone who is coming in for a second dose…but they are making no more first appointments until they get the teachers in,” said Gister.
CRAHD’s clinic requires registration in the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS). A VAMS account can be created at dphsubmissions.ct.gov/OnlineVaccine.
In addition to providers found through VAMS, there are several options for receiving the vaccine. Information on who is eligible and how to get the vaccine is available at ct.gov/covidvaccine/access.
The Nutmeg Pharmacy Group is one of the few independent pharmacies in the state that is administering the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I’m hoping that speaks volumes about how much we care about our communities,” said Chris Olender, pharmacy manager for Nutmeg’s Centerbook location. “[W]e were ready to do it and we wanted to be in the community helping in this effort.”
With limited space at the Centerbrook location, Olender said that the store typically runs a clinic once a week in Essex for eligible individuals who have registered on the store’s website.
Those who register are placed on a waiting list, which has been available since November, and are contacted when the vaccine is available. As of Feb. 25, the waitlist was at 3,000 to 4,000 individuals, according to Olender.
“We’re limited by the amount of supply we’re getting,” said Olender, who added later that the state’s Department of Public Health “guarantees sending the second doses, so we don’t have to worry about having a new stock for taking care of folks.”
If provided with more quantities of the vaccine, Olender said, “We have the means to be able to give more doses…We’d be happy to take more.”
With demand for the COVID-19 vaccine outpacing supply, Lamont announced Feb. 25 that approval of the single dose Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine could help “speed up distribution.”
“We just received word from the feds that Connecticut will receive 30,000 doses of the J&J vaccine next week, pending authorization by the FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration], which could come as early as this weekend,” said Lamont on Feb. 25, by Twitter.
The state was already “anticipating 100,000 doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines next week,” said Lamont. “If approved by the FDA, we’ll get 130,000 total doses next week and it should continue increasing each week.”
This new allotment is a significant increase from the 60,000 doses the state was receiving just a week before.
With expected approval of the J&J vaccine, Essex Health Director Lisa Fasulo said, “we’ve got three very good products available for people to get vaccinated.”
She said that “the ultimate goal is to keep people out of the hospital, and this is one more preventative measure” people can take in addition to wearing masks and social distancing.
The state’s projected timeline for expansion of eligibility to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is:
Monday, March 22 — Expands to age group 45 to 54
Monday, April 12, 2021 — Expands to age group 35 to 44
Monday, May 3, 2021 — Expands to age group 16 to 34
Appointments are not available in advance of these eligibility dates. Individuals who do not have access to the Internet can call the state’s vaccine assistance line for help making an appointment at 877-918-2224.