State’s colleges race to inoculate students before semester ends
With the end of the semester about six weeks away, officials said they are working on plans to quickly vaccinate Connecticut college students before they head home for the summer.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced the effort Monday as COVID-19 infections among young adults continue to rise, pointing out the effort could help stave off another surge of new cases in Connecticut.
The initiative, which is expected to include the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, is planned for early May, but the details remain uncertain.
“We are going to be rolling out, J&J, the single-dose vaccine, for colleges hopefully in May before those students go back home and disperse. Make sure they get vaccinated. I will be working with our fellow governors to make sure they do the same thing in return,” Lamont said.
The hope, Lamont said, is that students leaving campus is “not one more way we spread the virus.”
It’s unclear how this effort will take shape, but officials said talks have begun on how best to vaccinate students before the semester ends.
In a memo this week, the state Department of Public Health said more information on this effort would be coming, but “colleges and universities should plan for early May administration of J&J vaccine to students who have not already received vaccine in the community.”
Leaders with Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, which operates 17 state universities and community colleges, said they were speaking with state officials about the level of need for the vaccine and how to get it to its designated partners.
“Our hope is to make the vaccination available to as many students as possible, as quickly as possible,” CSCU’s Chief Operating Officer Alice Pritchard wrote in an update Tuesday.
Universities and colleges are exploring clinics on campus or could partner with health care organizations to get students vaccinated.
Gary McNamara, cochairman of Fairfield’s Sacred Heart University’s coronavirus planning team, said the news from the state was welcome as they push to get students vaccinated.
“We will ... continue to work with Hartford Healthcare at the mega site on our
West Campus — not only to hopefully vaccinate our students, but to vaccinate all adults in the community at large,” McNamara said.
At Quinnipiac University in Hamden, officials are considering campus clinics, but no plans have been finalized.
“We are exploring the possibility of hosting a vaccine clinic on campus for our students before the semester ends on May 7. We expect to have more information over the next few weeks,” said John Morgan, a university spokesman.
On Thursday, everyone age 16 to 44 becomes eligible for vaccine appointments, but with symptoms typically less severe for
younger individuals, state officials have asked teenagers not to rush into the queue for vaccinations.
But with weeks left in the semester, timing is an issue to get students vaccinated.
“The timing will be tight — some schools wrap up at the end of April and others that very first week in May — but we look forward to working closely with the state to roll this out in the next few weeks,” said Jennifer Widness, president of the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges.
With a narrow window to get these students vaccinated before the students are dismissed for the semester, college officials said Johnson & Johnson vaccines should make the process
smoother.
“J&J vaccines make this a lot easier to do, especially for out-of-state and international students,” said Summer Johnson McGee, University of New Haven’s COVID-19 coordinator.
Johnson & Johnson vaccine supply has been relatively low in past weeks, but state officials said it is expected to pick up substantially in April.
As the overall supply of the vaccine increases weekly in Connecticut, state officials remain confident that anyone who wants a vaccine will be able to receive one by the end of April or early May.
With eligibility expanding, some universities and colleges are working with
their students to find vaccines independently ahead of any specific collegebased efforts in May.
“We will also be educating all of our students on how to find vaccination appointments in the community, especially for Connecticut residents who can take Pfizer or Moderna,” Johnson McGee said.
While this effort may help vaccinate many college students, state officials acknowledged that University of Connecticut students would likely have to seek appointments on their own since they are not scheduled to return to campus after spring break in April.
While colleges and universities were an early concern when the pandemic began in March 2020, forcing swift closures of campuses across Connecticut, cases for the most part have been relatively low among students as higher education institutions enacted strict measures in classrooms and dormitories to limit the spread of the virus.
However, with warmer weather and pandemic fatigue setting in, officials are concerned the virus will spread among younger people, including those in college.
“We’ve got a little spring fever because it’s been a very, very long year,” Lamont said. “And I appreciate that . ... I can’t say firmly enough, we can make an enormous difference for the rest of the summer and the rest of the year going forward if we keep our guard up a little bit longer.”