Vaccination rate climbs with Foxwoods workers
— Foxwoods Resort Mashantucket Casino’s COVID-19 vaccination site is delivering the most shots of any of Hartford HealthCare’s 22 vaccination sites, while 65% of the casino’s employees have gotten at least their first dose of vaccine and 40% have been fully vaccinated, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe announced Wednesday.
The site the tribe opened March 8 in a partnership with Hartford HealthCare has administered more than 10,000 shots, including a oneday high of 1,532 shots on March 20, the tribe said.
The goal is to have the site administer 1 million doses by July.
Foxwoods has reactivated some of the slot machines it had shut down to maintain physical distancing among patrons, but not because of the number of employees who
have been vaccinated, Jason Guyot, the casino’s president and chief executive officer, said in a phone interview.
The casino analyzed its slots players’ behavior and found “on average, they were spending less than 15 minutes at an individual machine. They hop around,” Guyot said. “Based on that, we were comfortable opening up more machines. We haven’t removed any of the plexiglass that was in place (between adjacent machines), but now in some places there are machines that have no plexiglass between them.”
“It’s up to the guests to decide where they want to play,” he said. “We wanted to give them options.”
Guyot said the casino has not eased other COVID-19 protocols it instituted last year, including temperature checks, mandatory mask-wearing among employees and patrons and frequent sanitization of “touch points.”
In December, Mashantucket tribal officials began vaccinating tribal members at risk for severe COVID-19 illness and those in front-line positions and gradually have expanded the rollout to all tribal members and casino employees.
Given that Foxwoods currently employs about 3,000 workers, the vaccination percentages announced Wednesday indicate some 1,950 employees have received at least one dose and that 1,200 have been fully vaccinated either with a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two does of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Though mindful that the COVID-19 infection rate has been on the rise in Connecticut, Guyot said he was encouraged by the pace of the state’s vaccine rollout and the number of doses administered. As of Thursday, all residents 16 and older will be eligible to be vaccinated.
Foxwoods announced last week that it was reopening the Grand Theater in The Fox Tower and resuming live, “socially distanced” shows. Stand-up comedian Bob Marley performed in the theater last weekend with seating limited to 25% of the theater’s nearly 4,000-seat capacity, Guyot said.
Capacity could be increased at some point if conditions allow, he said.
Different protocols will be in effect when renowned comedian Dave Chappelle performs multiple shows June 25 and 26 in the Grand Theater. Some 3,600 tickets are being sold for each show, and Chappelle is requiring that ticket holders pass a COVID-19 antigen test on the spot before being admitted. Those who fail the rapid test will be turned away and issued a refund.
Chappelle is now scheduled to perform two shows each night, with ample time between shows to disinfect the theater, Guyot said. Additional Chappelle performances could be scheduled due to the demand, he said.
More than 7,000 tickets were sold during a “presale” period, and several thousand more have been sold since sales opened to the general public last Friday, Guyot said.