Next up: Residents ages 65-74
New vaccine plan announced after ‘confusion’ led to number of teachers getting inoculated ahead of schedule
After “confusion” was blamed for some Connecticut teachers receiving the COVID-19 vaccine too soon, Gov. Ned Lamont brought some clarity to the process on Tuesday.
The governor’s office has released a new, tiered approach to divide the Phase 1B vaccination group, which includes 1.4 million Connecticut residents.
Phase 1B officially began Monday with the vaccinations of residents 75 and older who are not living in nursing homes.
Connecticut residents between the ages of 65 and 74 will be the next group to be vaccinated, which will likely begin in early February, according to a loose
timeline shared by the governor’s office.
That group will be followed by “front-line essential workers and individuals with underlying medical conditions who have an increased risk for severe illness,” Lamont’s office said.
Lamont said those residents will probably begin receiving the vaccine around March 1. He said that timeline could change if the state receives more doses of the vaccine, including if one developed by Johnson & Johnson is approved.
“Folks 65 and above are
18 percent of the population, but still 88 percent of the fatalities,” Lamont said Tuesday during his afternoon press briefing. “So I think you can understand why this is going to be a really important priority for us.”
The vaccine should become available to the remaining essential workers, known as Phase 1C, sometime in May. The vaccine could be available to the general population sometime in June, according to the governor’s timeline.
Rolling out the vaccine to a slightly younger segment of the population next is also meant to address how the virus has hit communities of color disproportionately hard.
“African Americans are much more likely to suffer fatality in the 70- to 79year-old group than, say, a non-Hispanic white,” Lamont said. “And Hispanics are even more likely to suffer fatality in that younger age group, so that’s another reason why we focus on 65 and above.”
Deidre Gifford, the acting commissioner of the Department of Public Health, said the state will also use data tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine where to place vaccination clinics to ensure the shots reach vulnerable communities.
The governor continued to urge patience and said he believes the incoming Biden administration will “put the foot on the accelerator” to ramp up vaccination efforts on the federal level, including the use of the Defense Production Act.
On Tuesday, Connecticut reported 2,094 new COVID-19 cases out of 37,033 tests, for a daily positivity rate of 5.65 percent. The state reported 27 people have been hospitalized since Monday, increasing the statewide total to 1,141. A dozen more deaths brought the statewide death toll to 6,682.
As of Tuesday, 220,820 vaccine doses had been administered in Connecticut, including 24,067 people who have received their second and final dose, according to the governor’s office.
Lamont’s vaccine timeline announcement came as the president of the Connecticut Education Association says “confusion” about where teachers are prioritized during the process led to a number of educators getting their shots too soon.
In a joint memo sent Sunday, the state Department of Public Health and Department of Education said some school districts “prematurely” registered their entire roster of employees in the federal Vaccine Administration Management System.
Once users are uploaded to the web portal, they receive a message from the CDC allowing them to use VAMS to find and schedule a vaccine appointment.
Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer, said only “about a dozen” school districts misunderstood the directions. He pointed out there are more than 200 school districts in the state and more than 300 private schools.
The governor’s office said school staff who made appointments after Thursday had been instructed to cancel them.
School districts are also being told not to upload more rosters of employees into VAMS “until notified,” according to the Sunday memo.
Gifford indicated teachers have followed their directives. “When teachers understand what’s being asked, they will cancel their appointment and wait their turn,” she said.
West Windsor resident Jessica Wolf, a music teacher in the Somers school district, is among the educators who have already received their first dose of the vaccine. Wolf said she registered through VAMS and received the vaccine Saturday at Rentschler Field.
“Yesterday was my birthday,” Wolf said. “What a present!”
Jeff Leake, president of the Connecticut Education Association, said his group has “consistently advocated” that teachers be a top priority in Phase 1B.
“We know that some school districts, either accidentally or purposefully, put educators in the queue,” Leake said. “We also know that some of you had appointments scheduled, only to have those appointments canceled when the state learned the group was not in the 75and-older category.
“We have also been told that there will be glitches and some inconsistencies in any massive public health undertaking of this sort — some folks not in the 75-and-older category have been invited to receive or have received a vaccine even though this is not the stated protocol.”
Some teachers in New London were vaccinated when they weren’t yet eligible because of what officials said was likely a VAMS error.
The state’s vaccination efforts come as college students have begun returning for the spring semester.
Students returning to the University of Connecticut’s Storrs and Stamford residence halls were required to test at home and then again over the weekend when they returned to campus.
The school found 76
COVID-19 cases in re-entry testing, according to UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz. Of those, 56 cases were caught at home, and another 20 students “developed the virus” between the home test and returning to campus, Reitz said.