A ‘huge victory’ for some, others ‘disappointed’
Danbury area reacts to latest vaccine rollout plan
After weeks of waiting for more direction, Connecticut finally knows how the rest of the vaccine rollout will take place: oldest to youngest, with teachers and others who work in schools included in the next phase, as well.
Starting March 1, residents ages 55 to 64 will be the next group eligible to register for vaccination appointments. Those 16 to 34 are projected to start signing up on May 3. Those not included? Essential workers and those with chronic health conditions.
Educators and teachers unions across the state praised the decision, while others, who were hoping that more essential workers or those with underlying health conditions would come next, were not as thrilled.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Oswaldo Chin, president of Local 1622 of the Amalgamated Transit Union and veteran greater Danbury bus driver. “We were so hopeful, we sent a letter to Governor (Ned) Lamont to include us in the next round of vaccine.” He said their pleas obviously landed on deaf ears.
A total of 135 workers from the national union have died since the pandemic began, according to the
union’s website. And while Chin is proud to serve his community during the pandemic — taking people to the hospital, and the grocery store, and other important appointments — he said they wanted to be protected while doing so.
The leader of the Danbury teacher’s union called Lamont’s decision “a huge victory.”
“We have been lobbying for months now to be in that first tier of vaccinations for professionals, and that is even more important now that the Biden administration is pushing to make sure schools are open across the country,” said Erin Daly, president of NEA Danbury. “We are essential workers. End of story. From the beginning of this pandemic, our schools were quickly identified as essential to our communities on so many levels. Teachers across our state have shouldered the burden of so much over the past year.”
Studies have shown inschool transmission is low, but Daly said this research does not consider the safety of adult staff. Daly also noted that although teachers will still have concerns when they return to classrooms fulltime, becoming sick or dying from coronavirus won’t be one of them.
“We can really concentrate on the social and emotional learning of our students and making up for some of the deficits that we know have occurred during this pandemic.”
Jeff Leake, president of the Connecticut Education Association, was also pleased with the announcement.
“We believe this is going to enhance our ability to get back into the classroom,” he said. “This is a good step forward.”
Leake also emphasized that school staff was not cutting in line, and that the governor’s decision was following with recommendations from experts.
But those who have been keeping close tabs on ensuring equity in vaccine rollout are concerned about vaccinations in Black and Latino communities, which have faced the most severe viral impacts. Often, these groups make up a large portion of essential frontline service jobs — the very group expected to be next in vaccine eligibility but passed over in Lamont’s announcement Monday.
It’s important that the state “[makes] sure that the communities that have been most impacted by the virus are getting access to the vaccine as quickly as possible,” said Jill Zorn, senior policy officer at the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut. Zorn was watching the governor’s press conference as she spoke. She learned about the decision on Monday afternoon, along with the rest of the state.
Crystal Emery, founder and CEO of URU, The Right To Be, a non-profit that takes on social justice issues through media campaigns, has been working hard to promote vaccine education for Black and Latino Connecticut residents. She said that the age-based phasing is a step in the right direction but it doesn’t address the problem of creating equitable access to the vaccine in the first place.
The governor plans to announce specific targets and strategies for rollout in high-risk communities over the next few days. But even though the state has said it will prioritize rollout in vulnerable communities, Zorn said it will need to deliver on that statement.
“We’ll continue to monitor like we’ve always done.”
Meanwhile, in the coming weeks, school staff will start getting vaccinated at dedicated clinics or possibly at district sites, depending on the size of the school, according to Leake.
In preparation, the Danbury school district has already compiled staffing lists sorted by job function, which they plan to upload to the Vaccine Administration Management System, where vaccine appointments are made, said the district’s human resources director, Kimberly Mango Thompson.
Officials are hoping to have more details about the upcoming clinics for school staff in the coming days, she said
“It's long overdue,” wrote Redding Board of Education Chairman Chris Parkin in an email. “The light at the end of the tunnel is shining a little brighter this afternoon.”