Elderly, health care workers likely to receive COVID-19 vaccine first in Connecticut.

Residents who are elderly or medically at-risk, as well as health care workers and other essential workers, will likely receive the first doses of an anticipated COVID-19 vaccine in Connecticut, according to a draft state distribution plan submitted Friday to the federal government.

The 77-page document, filed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, outlines three possible phases for vaccine distribution in the state, predicting there could be limited supplies of a vaccine available sometime this fall. But state officials stressed that Connecticut’s draft plan is subject to change, based on input from a newly formed advisory committee to Democratic Gov.

Ned Lamont and changing federal advice.

“While we’ve put together this framework ... we’ve done this really with limited information about the actual vaccine itself and the requirements and populations,” said Dr. Deidre Gifford, the state’s acting public health director, during a meeting held Thursday evening with the governor’s advisory committee. “So we are doing our best to prepare but also knowing that we need to remain flexible and adapt as we get further information.”

Gifford said the state has already begun reaching out to potential vaccine providers across the state and planning for the three possible phases of distribution. The first phase, according to the plan, will likely involve hospitals, local health departments and districts, pharmacies and clinics that would focus on early vaccinations for priority groups. The Department of Public Health, for example, has been working with the Connecticut Hospital Association to recruit hospitals that would vaccinate their staffs and serve as central vaccination sites for other medical essential workers.

The plan also suggests offsite vaccination clinics and possibly mobile clinics for other essential workers, people with a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and residents of long-term care facilities.

Other groups identified in the draft plan as critical recipients of the vaccine include people from racial and ethnic minority groups, tribal communities, prisoners and people living in homeless shelters, college students, people living and working in other congregate settings, people with disabilities and those living in rural areas or who are uninsured.

In addition to those groups considered critical, the second and third phases are expected to involve vaccinating the general public, when there’s a greater anticipated supply of the vaccine. This could happen in doctors’ offices, clinics, pharmacies and local health centers. The plan also suggests that residents might need two doses of a vaccine and stresses the importance of educating the public about the distribution process.