City orders its first batch of coronavirus vaccines

Officials announce plans for rollout of first 300 doses

HARTFORD — Hartford has placed its first order for 300 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, and outfitted its health department with refrigerators to store them in, as the city plans for the much-anticipated roll-out to employees and residents.

The mayor’s office said Thursday the public health department will likely provide a small portion of all vaccines distributed in Hartford, with most residents eventually getting theirs from area hospitals or health centers.

Still, the city envisions partnering with health care providers to maximize access to the vaccine in the community, similar to how Hartford approached bringing mobile coronavi

rus testing sites to its neighborhoods.

Early in the pandemic, coordinated efforts brought permanent testing sites and a rotation of temporary ones to virtually every corner of the city. By mid-May, there were nine standing sites run by Wheeler Clinic, InterCommunity Inc., Community Health Services, Charter Oak Health Center, St. Francis Hospital, Hartford Hospital and CVS, and pop-ups at places like Phillips Health Center, shelters and city community centers.

The mayor’s office said it hopes to achieve a similar level of coordination with vaccinations. The health department has 10 nurses, and they could potentially work as a group to increase capacity at different sites around the city. That planning is ongoing.

The city is also in discussions with Hartford Public Schools about whether school nurses will be providing vaccines. But the prospect of vaccinating youth is still many months away.

With only l i mited supplies of the vaccine available, doses will be carefully allocated over the coming months, first to those with the greatest risk of getting infected by COVID-19 and, by early summer, to the broader public.

Phase 1a of vaccinations began Monday, and the state expects the overwhelming majority of health care workers, medical first responders, and residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities will have received the two doses needed for a full vaccination by late January.

That’s when the rest of Phase 1 is expected to begin, prioritizing residents who are high risk, those who are at least 65 years old, critical workforce employees — a term that is still being defined by the state — and people living in congregate settings.

The broader public falls in Phase 2, which will begin in early June and likely last through the early fall.

The city of Hartford has few employees who fall into Phase 1a, but its large fire, police and emergency services workforce will be eligible come late January. The city plans to survey those workers in early January to determine how many want to receive the vaccine, and to do some internal education to bring those numbers up.

A preliminary survey conducted by the city found only about a third of the police, fire and emergency services and technology departments said they wanted the vaccine at that time, chief of staff Vasishth Srivastava said Thursday.

The city also held several focus groups as it shaped a public information campaign that will launch in January encouraging residents to get the vaccine. Srivastava said those interviews confirmed what the health department already knew, that there’s significant reticence to getting vaccinated for COVID-19.

“That’s due to partly the specifics of this vaccine and the speed at which it was developed, but also the longstanding concerns about vaccines in communities like ours,” he said, referring to distrust in the Black community stemming largely from the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and myriad historical examples of medical abuse against minorities.

A survey of Connecticut adults this summer, by Siena College Research Institute and DataHaven, showed that 38% of Black respondents said they would get vaccinated against COVID19, compared to 67% of whites.

The city’s recent focus groups also confirmed that residents want to see others they know, like community leaders and politicians, getting the vaccine before them, Srivastava said.

They’re seeking the same layer of security that they received earlier in the pandemic, when a number of community leaders advocated for residents to get tested for COVID-19 and recorded their own tests to lessen fears that it was painful or invasive.

Mayor Luke Bronin plans to get the vaccine in public, his chief of staff said. Police Chief Jason Thody said he would be willing to, as well.

“This pandemic is one of the most dangerous and impactful things that has come along in my lifetime, and I am confident that the vaccines will save lives,” Thody said. “If community members are skeptical, it may help to see others, especially those in leadership positions, get vaccinated. It may also help convince my officers to follow suit.”