Vaccination process frustrates teachers
Local educators: Program has caused confusion
DARIEN — Local teachers were among the many educators statewide who said the Connecticut COVID vaccination process “caused significant confusion” last weekend.
Darien held its first vaccine clinic this week and vaccinated 110 people and have clinics scheduled next Tuesday and Wednesday. Vaccine is limited to those over 75 years old and is given by appointment only which can be arranged/scheduled through the Darien Human Services Department, at 203-656-7328.
Superintendent Alan Addley said most of the confusion centered around some Darien teachers believing they were eligible to register to be vaccinated.
“Both Dr. Addley and I are on the same page about getting
vaccines as quickly as possible, this one is up to the state. The teachers in Darien are very upset at how the state's confusing communication and roll out allowed for some districts to have access to the vaccine and others not,” Darien teachers’ union president and Hindley teacher Joslyn Delancey said.
Some parents have objected to periods of remote learning and the secondary level schools remaining in hybrid form.
“The rollout was disorganized at best. If the state and Darien wants teachers in school all-in, please find a way for us to get the vaccine,” Delancey said.
Addley said conflicting information from the state departments of education and public health about when teachers were eligible to register for the vaccine “caused significant confusion” last weekend.
“To the point where I had to advise teachers who were not 75 that they would have to cancel their appointments,” he said.
“It wasn’t handled as cleanly as it could have been. It caused understandable confusion. The last thing we need is more ambiguity,” Addley said.
However, Addley said he respects that those over 75 need the vaccine, but he hopes information about the teachers comes out “sooner than later.”
Addressing the confusion, Gov. Ned Lamont brought some clarity to the process on Tuesday.
The governor’s office 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 by 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.
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.
Darien has received 400 doses of the Moderna vaccine and began administering those vaccines on Wednesday.
Department of Public Health Director David Knauf and First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said the state had assured them that the second doses for those 400 were reserved for 28 days later.
The town had originally asked for 600, but Knauf said the request was denied due to a lack of supply.
Knauf said the town opted for the Moderna vaccine because it doesn’t have the storage capabilities for the cold temperatures required by the Pfizer vaccine.
Knauf also said there has been a steady stream of people accessing the Darien COVID testing center at the Leroy and West Avenue parking lot.
For more vaccine information, visit https://dphsubmissions.ct.gov/OnlineVaccine. For Darien information and testing, visit darienct.gov.