Phase 1B COVID-19 vaccination in Connecticut: What you need to know

With most Connecticut health care workers, nursing home staff and residents and medical first responders already having been offered a COVID-19 vaccine, the state has begun to look ahead to its next round of vaccinations.

Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday that vaccination for individuals 75 and older will begin next week, with other groups to follow.

Here is what to know about Phase 1B of Connecticut’s vaccine rollout.

Who is the next priority for vaccination?

Vaccination for COVID-19 has been organized under a series of three phases — beginning with 1A, 1B, and 1C — so the highest priority groups can be inoculated first.

Health care workers, long-term care facility residents and medical first responders have received vaccinations under Phase 1A.

The state is now shifting its focus to Phase 1B.

Who will be vaccinated under Phase 1B?

State officials have yet not finalized Phase 1B, but on Tuesday a vaccine allocation subcommittee recommended it include the following groups:

„ ■ Everyone age 65 or older „

■All adults with at least one high-risk health condition

„ ■ Frontline essential workers, such as teachers, grocery store workers, police officers, food service workers and sanitation workers

„ ■Residents of congregate settings, including prisons, group homes and psychiatric facilities

Those groups are estimated to include about 1.55 million Connecticut residents, or nearly half the state. If these recommendations are finalized, Phase 1B will be easily the largest of Connecticut’s vaccination phases.

The recommendations will go before the main Vaccine Advisory Group and then on to Gov. Ned Lamont for final approval in the coming days.

Who goes first? What is the timeline?

Lamont announced Monday that individuals 75 and older will be the first group eligible in Phase 1B, beginning next week.

It is unclear how long it will take for everyone in that cohort to be vaccinated, what groups will follow in which order or when other newly eligible groups might begin receiving their shots.

“There won’t be room for everybody on day one, so you’re going to have to be patient,” Lamont said. “It’s going to take a while. I can’t do everybody in that first week.

Phase 1B was already expected to progress through February and likely beyond, even before the addition of large, new groups.

How can people 75 and older schedule their appointments?

Lamont said hospitals and other health care providers will call residents 75 and older to schedule vaccination appointments, beginning Thursday, with the appointments themselves beginning Jan. 18. State officials said eligible residents should not call their physicians to schedule appointments and should instead wait for providers to reach out to them.

Alternately, residents will be able to book appointments through an online or telephone system, the details of which have not been announced. Lamont said the state will provide more information about this option on Thursday.

How and when can other members of Phase 1B groups schedule appointments?

So far, state officials have not revealed a plan for groups beyond individuals 75 and older.

With Phase 1A wrapping up and vaccinations for the elderly just beginning, it will likely be some time before essential workers, adults with high-risk health conditions and individuals in congregate settings can schedule appointments.