Panel: Inmates should receive vaccine next

Connecticut prison inmates and residents of other congregate settings should be included in the next wave of COVID-19 vaccinations, a key subcommittee of the vaccine group advising Gov. Ned Lamont decided Tuesday.

The subcommittee plans to recommend moving food service workers into the next phase — including those who work in charitable services such as food banks or who deliver meals to older adults, as well as health inspectors. Wastewater and sanitation workers will also be in the next wave of vaccinations.

Including inmates in the same wave of vaccinations as prison staff caps a long debate after the American Civil Liberties Union called for medically vulnerable inmates to be vaccinated in the first wave along with doctors, nurses and nursing homes.

But it remained unclear Tuesday where those with intellectual or dev elop mental disabilities will fall on the state’ s vaccine distribution timeline.

That came as the state recorded 2,332 new C OVID -19 cases Tuesday and the daily positivity rate bounced backup to 7.66 percent. There were 38 more hos pita liz at ions, bringing the statewide total to 1,149.

Another 24 fatalities attributed to the illness were also reported, pushing the Connecticut death toll to 6,192.

The discussion over who gets the vaccine next follows broad guidelines released last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’ s Advi so ry Committee on Immunization

Practices.

The guidelines are not binding— states can adjust the vaccination order for their residents.

In Connecticut, La month as said he will make the final decision son how the vaccine is do led out to different groups. But the governor has also said he plans to follow the recommend ati ons of his vaccine advisory group, which is working with the CDC guidelines.

But on Tuesday, member soft headvi so ry group’ s allocations subcommittee appeared to be less clear on whether and how to move up people with con diti ons that put them more at risk from the disease—including those withintel le ctua land developmental dis a bi lities.

“The part that we have been talking about that has been the most difficult to tea se out is what to do with individuals between 16 and 75 with and without co morbidities ,” said Zita Lazzarini,t he subcommittee’ s co-chair woman, who summarized the discussion at the end of the two-hour meeting.

“In other words—how to define who is vulnerable within that group, and therefore, how we would address racial and ethnic equity better and address other underlying health disparities often involving people with disabilities ,” she said.

The subcommittee plans to meet again soon to discuss those questions in greater depth before determining where those people would fall on the state’ s vaccination plan.

Connecticut has received about

170,000 first doses of vaccine, with

44,000 more doses expected this week, said Benjamin Be ch to ls heim, director of the C OVID -19 vaccination program for the state Department of Public Health.

The guidelines divide those to be v acci na ted into four phases.

In Phase 1 A, front-line healthcare workers, such as hospital staff, a rev acci na ted along with staff and residents of long-term care facilities, starting with nursing homes before moving to other settings, including assisted living fa cili ties.

First responders“at risk of exposure to C OVID -19 through their response to medical emergencies” are also included in the first phase, according to Connecticut’ s vaccine guidelines.

The state expects Phase 1 A to include some 320,000 people and up to about

260,000 of them willing to take th ev acci ne.

Phase 1 B includes essential workers like firefighters and police, corrections staff, food and agricultural workers, postal workers, those who work in manu fact u ring, grocery store workers, publi ct ran sit employees, and those who work in education and childcare, according to the CDC’ s recommendations. The group also includes people aged 75 and older, due to their high morbidity if they contract the disease.

State health officials believe people in that group will begin to get the vaccine later this month.

“We’ re likely still going to have some folks in 1 A who are receiving first doses either because they’ ve been waiting to see their peers go first or things of that sort ,” Be ch to ls heim said.

In Phase 1 C, people between the ages of 65 and 74 would be offered th ev acci ne along with people between the ages of 16 and 64“with medical conditions that increase the risk for severe CO

V ID -19,” according to the CDC’ s recommendations. The group also includes any other essential workers not included in the first two phases.

But with some states reporting long lines and confusion as people get va c cina ted, the Surgeon General Tuesday urged state leaders to not adhere too strictly to those guidelines if it means getting the vaccine out to those who want it.

“Your headline today really should be ‘Surgeon General tells states and gov erno rs to move quickly to other priority groups ,” Dr. Jerome Adams said during an appearance on NB C’ s“Today” show. “If the demand isn’ tt herein 1 A, goto 1 B and continue on down .”

During Tuesday’s subcommittee meeting, the acting head of the state Department of Public Health said the phases would be “flexible” if demand for the vaccine wanes in one group.

“We don’ t have a fixed period of time that Phase 1 B will last 12 weeks, for example ,” Acting Commissioner Deidre Gifford said.