After rough rollout, vaccine ‘floodgates’ are going to open up,
The Lamont administration announced that Phase 1b of its vaccination rollout would begin on Monday. Residents 75 and older can, according to the state’s latest guidelines, start registering for the vaccine immediately.
STAMFORD — At the helm of a wide circle of city officials, Sen. Chris Murphy watched them explain how the COVID-19 vaccine rollout was going in Stamford.
The conversation at Optimus Health Care had started with talk about the city’s testing operations but pivoted quickly to vaccine planning as city officials confronted the tide of inquiries expected in the coming days.
“It’s a big launch and we know the first couple of weeks are going to be real funky,” said Mayor David Martin. “Everyone is going to hear in the media that it’s available, but we don’t have the infrastructure or the vaccine to do the process.”
“The floodgates are going to open up,” said Optimus Health Care CEO Ludwig Spinelli.
The Lamont administration announced that Phase 1b of its vaccination rollout would begin on Jan. 18, 2021. Residents 75 and older can, according to the state’s latest guidelines, start registering for the vaccine immediately.
Phase 1b newly includes residents between the ages of 65 and 74 and those between 16 and 64 with underlying health conditions, along with frontline essential workers and those who live or work in congregate settings. In total, the state estimates that 1.3 million Connecticut residents are eligible for Phase 1b.
But Stamford began vaccinating residents 75 and older late last week to prevent unused doses from expiring. More formally, the city on Tuesday announced that it would start vaccinating those 75 and older immediately after an earlier announcement from the state.
“We vaccinated 75-plus people if (and) when there was an excess dose due to canceled appointments,” said Arthur Augustyn, a spokesman for the city. The city assigns vaccine appointments through a randomized system.
Eligible residents can register for the COVID vaccine in at least three different ways: through the city’s own system, through the Centers for Disease Control’s Vaccine Administration Management System, or by calling the city’s Senior Center directly.
Mayor David Martin said that Stamford was among the first communities in Connecticut to begin vaccinating older adults.
Immediately after the city announced its operation, it received an influx of calls from residents, all interested in getting vaccinated as soon as possible.
Augustyn said that, so far, more than 4,800 people have filled out the city’s registration form. They receive two new registrations every minute, and 60 percent of those registrations come from adults 75 or older.
That presents a new problem for the city: a lack of supply.
“I’ve got the people, I’ve got the location, I’ve got the staff,” Martin said to Murphy. “I don’t have the vaccine.”
While Stamford Health can inoculate people with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the health department lacks the vaccine freezers necessary to keep doses cold. Instead, Stamford uses the Moderna vaccine, which the city receives in smaller quantities.
Of the doses it currently has, the department expects to run out by the end of the week.
Director of Health Dr. Jennifer Calder estimates that the health department will have vaccinated 300 people over the age of 75 by the end of the week.
“It’s discouraging to hear that we weren’t more ready,” said Murphy while visiting the Optimus Health Care testing facility in Stamford. “But again this is mostly a question of quantity, and that’s a federal problem.”
“The information we get from the state changes on a daily basis,” said Spinelli.
Martin was quick to correct him.
“It changes on a hourly basis.”