Anger but no change on vaccine plan
Governor is resisting pressure to expand vaccine distribution
While concern has mounted among some lawmakers and residents over Gov. Ned Lamont’s new vaccination plan, a sweeping effort to change the rollout has yet to form.
Members of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus said they agreed with prioritizing teachers and school workers, along with those over age 55, but said Lamont’s plan misses key residents, including essential workers and those with high-risk medical conditions.
“Those who have complications should have been vaccinated by now . ... We believe that should have been addressed,” said state Rep. Geraldo Reyes, D-Waterbury, chairman of the caucus.
Residents, including those with
underlying medical conditions, have been among the loudest
voices questioning the governor’s new plan, which upended weeks of indications that vaccines would soon focus on these groups.
“Right when we thought we’d be hearing the announcement that they were expanding eligibility to include us ... they pulled the rug out from under us,” tweeted Kathy Flaherty, executive director of the Connecticut Legal Rights Project.
Max Reiss, spokesman for Lamont, said the governor’s office has heard the rumblings, but nothing more has materialized.
“We definitely heard that a couple of members have heard from their constituents, but that’s it . ... There is not any organized effort for phone calls to our office right now, and we’re two days in,” he said Wednesday.
Paul Mounds, the governor’s chief of staff, said the administration is not waiting for opposition to bubble up. As they see legislators issue tweets, Facebook posts, comments in news stories and newsletters, they are approaching those people and offering to answer questions directly.
“We’re being more proactive about it,” Mounds said. “Is there an organized campaign? I haven’t seen one yet.”
That came as hospitalizations for the disease continued to decline on Wednesday, even as the one-day positivity rate rose above 3 percent again. The total number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the state fell to 495. There were 23 more deaths attributed to the disease recorded Wednesday, increasing the statewide death toll to 7,595.
‘A little unforced error’
The new vaccination plan starts Monday with those ages 55 to 64 as well as school staff, teachers and child care professionals. On March 22, those between the ages of 45 and 54 will be eligible to register, followed by people 35 to 44 on April 12 and everyone 16 and older on May 3.
State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, said he and colleagues in the legislature have been receiving calls and messages about the new plan.
“We are all hearing the same thing. I am hoping this gets looked at,” Lesser said. “So far, I haven’t gotten any indication the governor’s office has been willing to revisit it, but I’m hopeful they will.”
He has been in conversations with the administration since the plan was announced and said he believes those talks will continue this week.
“I think the governor’s rollout has been phenomenal thus far,”
Lesser said. “I think this is a little unforced error, and I’m concerned there’s a lot of people out there who are upset.”
Lesser said he agrees with the age-based approach, and prioritizing those ages 55 and older, but is less convinced when it comes to vaccinating younger people.
During a news conference on legislative matters, House Speaker Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, said Wednesday he had floated the idea of expanding the vaccination more broadly after those ages 55 and above were inoculated.
In an apparent nod to the growing frustrations, Josh Geballe, Lamont’s chief operating officer, sent out a thread of tweets Wednesday, explaining the difficulty the state would face if people with certain medical conditions were prioritized.
“Our heart goes out to everyone suffering and sacrificing during this pandemic, particularly those with serious medical conditions who have had to isolate from their family and friends to stay safe and who live in constant fear of the virus,” Geballe tweeted.
After outlining how estimates had jumped for those with highrisk conditions, Geballe wrote: “This pandemic has been brutal, and we do hear and understand people who are frustrated. Please know that we are getting so close to universal access to vaccine and we are working to get to that day as quickly as possible.”
‘Keep making noise!’
But advocates and those suffering from these conditions continue to push for change, directing messages at the governor and other lawmakers under the Twitter hashtag #HighRiskCT.
Among the most vocal has been Connecticut #Insulin4All, a diabetes advocacy organization, which has used Twitter as a call to action — urging people to contact the governor’s office and lawmakers. Certain diabetic conditions were listed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as conditions that put people at higher risk for COVID-19 complications.
“Keep making noise! This is how advocates in California were able to ensure people with some preexisting conditions were able to be vaccinated. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed, tell your family to contact. If NY could figure out how to do it, surely we can,” the organization tweeted.
Kristen Whitney Daniels, a Shelton resident and the chapter’s leader, said she has been advocating to state leaders before and after the plan was announced, pressing the need for vaccination priority for those with high-risk conditions.
At 30 years old, she will not be
eligible to receive the vaccine until May 3, despite being immunocompromised and living with Type 1 diabetes.
News of the vaccine was the “first ray of hope” during the pandemic, that maybe “I can do the things that I have to do to survive, to make it a little bit easier,” she said. “So it definitely hit hard knowing that I don’t know when I’m going to be able to get the vaccine.”
She noted the Connecticut hashtag drew inspiration from one that began circulating after California announced it would shift to age-based eligibility.
California officials later announced the state would open eligibility to those with high-risk conditions — a list that includes Down syndrome and cancer — beginning March 15, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A petition posted online called for Connecticut to reverse its decision for both front-line essential workers and those with preexisting conditions. As of Wednesday afternoon, the petition had drawn more than 300 signatures.
Advocates pushing back
But shifting the governor’s position during the pandemic has proven difficult at times for advocates. Lamont has acknowledged in the past that he has relied on his administration, committees of experts and other leaders, as well as other governors to inform his decisions.
Despite pleas from more than 40 physicians during a surge of new cases in the fall, Lamont kept restaurants and gyms open.
As cases surfaced in the state’s prisons early in the pandemic, advocates and activists repeatedly pressured Lamont to have a broad release of inmates, but he pushed back.
Lamont and his administration have defended this week’s decision, saying the estimated number of people with high-risk medical conditions outlined by the CDC had grown to 800,000 people. This brought a host of challenges, they said, top among them was how to confirm someone’s eligibility.
“It’s leading to a great deal of confusion in other states, fewer people are being vaccinated (be) cause you have to bring a paystub or a proof of employment or a doctor’s order,” Lamont said.
So they shifted focus to agebased distribution, arguing this will capture those people with high-risk medical conditions.
The new plan represented a break from CDC recommendations, prompting a statement from White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, a Connecticut native, that the guidance was “there for a reason.”
Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, said opening eligibility based on age would allow some people with high-risk medical conditions to get the vaccine faster because fewer would be
eligible at once.
“We understand that some people will have to wait a few more weeks. In most cases, it won’t be months and I would encourage people who were in one of those categories or who have a chronic condition to look at the calendar and see where they are slotted in,” Gifford said. But advocates pushed back. “To say to be patient, to tell us to stop complaining because our day will come soon enough, is really devaluing our lives,” Whitney Daniels said.
Behind the scenes, another group is pushing the governor and lawmakers to vaccinate those with medical conditions. When the new plan was announced, Down Syndrome Association of Connecticut reached out to lawmakers in the hopes of changing the direction the state is taking with vaccinations.
Shanon M. McCormick, the organization’s executive director, said they have been asking families of people with Down syndrome to call the governor and other lawmakers. Down syndrome is among the handful of conditions outlined by the CDC as having a higher risk of COVID-19 complications.
“The governor's action not only puts people with Down syndrome at risk from COVID-19, but it also prolongs the profound social isolation many are enduring in an effort to stay safe,” McCormick said. “We think this is a terrible step backward.”