Nearly a quarter of Conn.’s young people have gotten a dose

Students across Connecticut are embracing the COVID-19 vaccine.

Individuals ages 16 through 24 became eligible to sign up for the shot at the beginning of the month, and almost a quarter — or about 103,000 young adults — have already gotten at least their first dose, according to state data. That’s almost double the 53,000 who had at least a first dose as of April 7.

Connecticut’s age-based

vaccine rollout has meant that the student-aged population was among the last to qualify for the shot, despite — or perhaps because of that — current infections are concentrated among younger adults.

Gov. Ned Lamont said at a press conference Thursday that the data is mostly in line with the state’s expectations.

“It’s only been a couple of weeks,” he said. “I have a feeling we’re going to have to work harder with the younger demographic, just like we had to work harder to get them health insurance as well.”

Jacob Nuland is a 22-year-old student from Trumbull. Currently a junior at Southern Connecticut State University, Nuland is studying engineering and learning from home, though he had some labs in-person last fall.

Nuland has a preexisting condition that, he recalls learning from his pulmonologist, made him more susceptible to severe cases of COVID-19. So he said he was extra cautious about the virus.

“I would stay in my room and not leave my house,” he said.

Nuland, who noted his condition added more urgency to quickly getting the shot, signed up for the Pfizer vaccine in Stamford as soon as he could.

“I just wanted more protection,” he said, “to go out more and live my life again, not having constant worry going through my head.”

Jacob’s 16-year-old sister, Lily, is a junior at Trumbull High School and got her first dose of the vaccine last week.

Young adults ages 16 and 17 have to get the Pfizer vaccine — the only shot currently approved for those ages by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Lily said the vaccine will make it safer for her and her friends to socialize in and outside of school.

“I hope everybody gets vaccinated so school can become less restricted,” she said, citing basic school activities like gathering in the cafeteria. “You can’t really eat with your friends.”

“Every time I hang with people, I get really nervous. If I know we’re vaccinated, it makes me feel a lot better,” she said.

The vaccine rollout comes just in time for Lily’s final year of high school.

“I hope everything’s as close to normal as it could be next year,” she said. “My school got cut off sophomore year. That’s when everything was about to start, like dances. It’s a big jump from nothing to prom!”

Nicole Somerstein, a senior at Boston University, returned to Connecticut to celebrate Easter and get her Pfizer vaccine in Stamford, where her family lives.

When not at college, Somerstein lives with her parents and grandma, so she said she was nervous to go home during school vacations.

“I was just one more person who could potentially bring (COVID-19) home,” she said. “I want to be able to hug my friends and family again, to be around people and not be nervous.”

Somerstein will be fully vaccinated right before her college graduation, so she hopes her and her family’s newfound protection against the virus will mean they get to celebrate together.

“I trust the people who make (the vaccines),” she said. “At the end of the day, if it’s going to give us a sort of back-to-normal, I will 100 percent take that chance.”