Disparities go far beyond vaccines

In my job, when someone from the governor’s office wants to speak on short notice, chances are they’re not calling to tell me what a great job I’m doing.

Such was the case a week ago when Gov. Ned Lamont’s chief operating officer, Josh Geballe, reached out. I considered the various ways I might have offended the governor; pointing out his ambivalence over zoning reform and his lukewarm interest in a public option came to mind. But the topic at hand was the same one everyone has been lately obsessed with — COVID vaccines and when we can get them.

Connecticut early on followed the national model and made vaccines available for the most vulnerable people in the state, including the oldest segment of the population. But instead of continuing to follow a plan that would have next opened up vaccinations to people with disabilities and preexisting conditions as well as others in front- line occupations, the state switched to a strictly agebased protocol. The result was an outcry as loud as any the state has seen in years.

Among those objecting was the Hearst Connecticut Media editorial board, of which I am a member. But it was mostly regular people, many of whom had been expecting relief for themselves or their families, who were angry. We published letters from several who felt blindsided by the change, and Lamont’s office was pushing back on the notion that it was turning its back on people in the most danger.

At this point, I’m not sure who is right, and I’m also not sure the answer is knowable. I don’t think the governor has been callous, and I think they’re making the best choices they can in a difficult situation. But that’s not the same as getting it right.

The first issue was confusion over who was in line for the next round of vaccinations before the state changed policies. Lamont’s office pointed out that many who had written angry letters would come out better in their self- described scenarios than they would have under earlier plans, a result of misunderstandings over who would have been in line for shots. By making the cutoff strictly agebased, all that confusion went away.

Because COVID deaths are so closely linked to age, the governor’s office felt secure in aligning vaccines with seniority. And removing nearly all extenuating circumstances, including occupation and health status, removes red tape and gets the process moving faster for everyone.

What they could have done better is explain their position. Connecticut officials were left arguing that they alone — not the CDC or any other state — had the answer on proper prioritization. That puts a high burden on their duty to justify their plans.

But it’s the experience of other states that puts Connecticut in a better light. Rather than have to wade through a lengthy questionnaire to determine eligibility, state residents either know they can get it or not. As the state’s acting public health commissioner noted in an op- ed a few days ago, even the experts were stumped by some of the qualifications the CDC was offering for prioritization, and now a few other states have moved to age- only criteria.

The state did make an exception for teachers. The question isn’t whether they are deserving, but why them and not others. If there were too many carve- outs, the state could have mandated fewer, and explained why. There’s a long way between the confusing process in other states and what Connecticut settled on.

Lamont’s office is betting that it may not matter for much longer as vaccines get more plentiful. But it’s been a long year, even more for people who have had to take extra precautions because of health problems. They deserved better than an abrupt turnaround from what they had been expecting.

Because the problems go deeper than vaccinations. Even as the administration has made a show of reaching out to inner cities, the death rate from COVID among Black state residents is twice as high as among white people. There are many consequences of COVID that don’t include death, and those long- term health issues can be much worse for people with other problems already.

These are problems that wouldn’t have been solved by sticking with the original vaccine schedule. But neither can they be forgotten once the current crisis is over.