State adjusts to J&J pause
Vans restocking with Pfizer, Moderna shots
The state has come up with a new plan for its mobile vaccination vans amid a pause in administering the Johnson & Johnson shots following reports of possible rare side effects.
A Federal Emergency Management Agency mobile vaccination van and the state’s vans will switch to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and will return to sites three or four weeks after administering first doses to give second doses, Gov. Ned Lamont and the governor’s Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe said during a news conference Thursday.
Lamont addressed concerns about the J&J vaccine Tuesday after reports of a combination of severe blood clots and low platelets in a few women who got the vaccine. There are six reported cases of these issues out of 6.8 million vaccines administered.
The state Department of Public Health vans are going to go back to the same location they were three or four weeks prior. Geballe said people will be set up with a second appointment on the spot.
“For people yesterday or today, that may not have been every case, but we have their contact information and if necessary they’ll be reached out to, to make sure they know when to come for their second appointment,” he said.
For those who can’t make their appointment for a subsequent dose, “there should be plenty of other options available to them,” Geballe said. He pointed to the expectation that supply will outstrip demand in three to four weeks, and the state plans to implement second-dose clinics in May. These clinics are planned with out-of-state college students coming home for the summer in mind.
The move away from the J&J vaccine has caused some vaccination appointments to be canceled, Geballe said, but the vast majority of J&J vaccine appointments scheduled for this week were switched to Pfizer or Moderna.
Lamont referred to a map showing COVID-19 infection rates among municipalities in Connecticut, saying that the southwest area of the state and the Naugatuck Valley are trending with higher infection rates. He singled out Waterbury as a COVID-19 hot spot.
The governor highlighted Old Lyme while referring to a map showing vaccination rates in Connecticut’s municipalities.
“If you look along the shoreline there, Old Lyme is our champion,” Lamont said, “75% of the people, not 75% of the adults, 75% of everybody, have been vaccinated. They’re really close to herd immunity there.”
He also mentioned Old Saybrook’s high vaccination rates. Lamont said there is a direct correlation between high vaccination rates and low infection rates. When asked what Old Saybrook may be doing differently, Geballe credited the Connecticut River Valley Health District as well as the “Ledge Light Health District right on the other side of the river there, they’ve been very active.” He said to keep in mind that places such as Old Saybrook have more elderly populations and have had a head start, as those populations were eligible first in the state’s age-based vaccine rollout.
Lamont said Tuesday that he and other governors met with the White House’s COVID-19 task force and they were told the pause in Johnson & Johnson distribution will last a matter of days rather than weeks. He hadn’t heard anything new on the subject as of Thursday.
A bill repealing religious exemptions for school-required vaccinations was approved Thursday by the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee. Lamont said Thursday that he would sign such a bill if it makes it to his desk.
Lamont commented on the New Hampshire governor’s decision to lift that state’s mask mandate on Friday.
“I think it’s premature,” he said. “I think that we have two and a half million people who haven’t been fully vaccinated. I think we’ll be in a much stronger position in 30 days than we are today.”
Updated COVID-19 statistics
The governor gave an update on COVID-19 vaccination statistics, including that 55% of all those aged 16-plus have received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Of those aged 65-plus, 87% have received their first dose; 73% of people between the ages of 55 and 64 have received their first dose; 56% of those aged 45-54; and 34% of people between the ages of 16 and 44. A total of 2,550,660 doses have been administered, with 1,037,446 people fully vaccinated and 1,617,983 first doses administered.
Lamont said Thursday that he was pleased with the number of people who have been vaccinated in the 65-and-older age group. “I’m proud to say that my age group, 65 and above, is breaking all records with 87% now vaccinated,” he said, which is “darn close to herd immunity.”
In Connecticut, 702 new COVID-19 cases were detected among 34,388 tests in the previous 24 hours, a positivity rate of 2.04%. Related hospitalizations decreased by 13 to 505, while six additional deaths pushed the toll since the pandemic began in March 2020 to 7,990.
The latest state numbers show New London County had 12 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday and 21,382 total cases. As of Thursday, 426 deaths were reported in the county, up from 424 one week ago. Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London reported seven hospitalizations Thursday, while Westerly Hospital reported four.