City awaits vaccine batch

DANBURY — As the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine arrive in the state, Nuvance Health expects to receive its batch this week.

“We do not know the exact time yet, but we are excited about receiving vaccines and fully prepared for their arrival,” said Amy Forni, spokeswoman for the health system, which includes Danbury, Norwalk, New Milford and Sharon hospitals.

During the governor’s press conference, state officials said 1,950 vaccines are expected at Danbury Hospital this week to then be distributed to the other Nuvance hospitals.

Yale New Haven Hospital, Hartford Hospital, and St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center are also anticipated to receive this amount each.

Nuvance Health was told to expect the vaccine on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, although it had not been delivered as of Monday evening.

“We don’t know anything definitive,” said Andrea Rynn, Nuvance spokeswoman said on Monday morning. “Information is still moving.”

Nuvance will follow the FDA and manufacturer guidelines for storage, which includes keeping the doses in an ultra cold freezer.

Staff are expected to be vaccinated at least 24 hours after the doses arrive, Rynn said.

“We will offer vaccines to our healthcare workers following federal and state distribution guidelines,” Forni said. “We will administer the vaccines in groups because limited doses will be available at first.”

Nuvance’s hospitals in New York will receive the vaccine separately, Rynn said.

The first doses of the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech arrived around 9 a.m. Monday at Hartford Hospital. Fifteen to 20 front line health care workers from across Hartford HealthCare’s hospitals were vaccinated afterward.

The federal Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine for emergency use on Friday night, setting off the shipment of the doses across the country.

In Connecticut, 31,200 doses are expected to arrive in the first week, followed hopefully in about a week by distribution of the vaccine from Moderna, which must go through the approval process.

Both vaccines require two doses. At least 225,775 people are expected to receive both their first and second doses by the end of January.

Health care workers, medical first responders and people living at long-term care facilities will receive the vaccine first.

Between January through May, “critical” workers, such as teachers, police officers and firefighters, as well as people living in other congregate settings, adults over 65 and high-risk individuals under 65 will be vaccinated.

The rest of the public, including children, will be vaccinated beginning in June.