In CT, nearly half without second dose of vaccine
Connecticut has administered more than 1.2 million COVID vaccines, but statistics released Thursday show that nearly half of those receiving inoculations are not yet fully vaccinated.
As Connecticut plans to ease pandemic restrictions next week, Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration has touted falling COVID-19 metrics and the state’s success at administering vaccines as signals that it is time to reopen further.
“Those that are infected tend to be a little healthier than they were six months ago, so our hospitalizations, complications, fatalities continue in the right direction,” Lamont said Thursday.
He said there is no change to the planned easing of restrictions set to begin March 19, when he said occupancy caps can be lifted on businesses and houses of worship, and gathering sizes can increase. Mask and social distancing mandates will remain in place.
Lamont has maintained that Connecticut will have many more people vaccinated by March 19.
President Joseph Biden wants all states to make every adult eligible for the vaccine by May 1, which is closely in line with Connecticut’s plan to have everyone 16 and older eligible on May 3.
While Connecticut ramps up inoculations, the state has a sizable difference between the number of people who have re
ceived a first dose, giving them some immunity against the disease, and those who have been fully vaccinated.
Vaccination figures released Thursday show 813,616 people have received at least a first dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, while 417,873 have received their second dose.
Coupled with the 27,358 people who received doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the data shows a little more than 12 percent of the state’s population of 3.6 million have been fully vaccinated, while about 24 percent have received at least one dose.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show only around 9.9 percent of Connecticut’s population has been fully vaccinated. Connecticut sits right at the national average for the percentage of the population fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
However, Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer, said the CDC is misidentifying some of Connecticut’s second doses.
“It’s up to about 81,000 doses that they have misclassified that are actually second doses that are administered that are counting in their data as first doses,” Geballe said. “The good news on this topic is they have committed to us they understand what the fix is that’s required.”
He said the data should be adjusted by Saturday.
On Thursday, there were seven fewer Connecticut patients hospitalized with COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 383.
The daily positivity rate stood at 2.36 percent — dipping back below 3 percent for the first time in three days — after 735 new cases were reported out of 31,185 tests.
Another nine deaths attributed to the disease were reported, bringing the state’s official death toll to 7,761.
With Connecticut offering the vaccine to anyone age 55 and older, the governor acknowledged shortcomings in inoculating the state’s most vulnerable populations — including communities of color — where he said more work needs to be done.
The state is targeting 50 high-need ZIP codes, which comprise about a quarter of the state’s population. Vaccine providers have been given a benchmark of administering 25 percent of their doses to those communities.
But a chart Lamont showed during his presentation Thursday showed only federally qualified health centers — health organizations that work in underserved communities like people experiencing homelessness or public housing residents — have met that mark.
Pharmacies, which now receive all their vaccine doses directly from the federal government rather than a portion from the state allocation, were farthest from the mark at 14 percent, according to the state.
Asked to reflect on the one-year anniversary of March 11, the day when Connecticut and much of the U.S. shuttered in the face of the pandemic, Lamont said he wished the state had acted sooner, but noted it did so “as early as anybody.”
“The people of Connecticut really rallied,” Lamont said. “We were all confronted with something that was totally unknown and alien to us and we had to work on it together. We had to give each other the benefit of the doubt, we had to do things we’d never dreamed we’d ask anybody to do — wear a mask, close a school, can’t go to a restaurant.”
“I think people understood why we were doing what we were doing, and we worked together,” he added. “My hat’s off to the legislature, it was a deep politicized situation, we worked together hand-in-hand.”
That comes as President Biden signed a sweeping $1.9 trillion stimulus package into law on Thursday, a day earlier than expected.
Along with direct payments of $1,400 to many Americans and expanded unemployment through early September, the nation’s third pandemic-related stimulus will provide Connecticut with about $1.1 billion for education funding, according to the governor’s office.
He also emphasized using stimulus funds to support mental health services.
The commissioners of the state’s education and mental health services departments, both of whom were Lamont’s guests for Thursday’s press conference, were asked what challenges lie ahead for the post-pandemic world.
Charlene Russell-Tucker, acting commissioner of the state Department of Education, suggested the feeling of being safe for both educators and families will be key.
Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, suggested the funds could partly be used to let residents know what mental health services are available in the state. She also said one focus could be working with people coming to terms with emerging back in public.
“One thing I’m hearing about is people may have struggles with just managing some of the post-pandemic anxieties around, ‘is it really safe now?’” she said.