‘Masks are our friends’
DPH chief talks COVID-19, vaccinations in webinar
As many state residents continue to get their COVID-19 vaccinations, Acting Connecticut Public Health Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford stressed the continued importance of public health guidelines.
Gifford said in a webinar with Hearst Connecticut Media’s Dan Haar on Facebook Live Thursday morning that residents should keep wearing masks and maintain social distancing.
“We are getting to a different phase of this pandemic, but masks are our friends,” Gifford said.
Amid an increase in vaccinations and relatively low COVID-19 metrics, Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to announce Thursday afternoon the state’s plans to relax some of the reopening restrictions.
As vaccine supply increases, Gifford said the state hopes to include more providers in the process sometime in the late summer or fall.
“I understand and appreciate very much that they want to help us . ... We are moving in that direction,” Gifford said, responding to calls from physicians this week that they want to take part in vaccination process through their own offices.
On Monday, the state’s latest group — individuals ages 55 to 64 as well as school and child care workers — became eligible for vaccines. This group represents one of the largest expansions in eligibility since the vaccination program launched in December.
Gifford urged those who became eligible for the vaccine under the state’s latest rollout phase this week to be patient with the appointment process after hearing that some residents have appointments scheduled in April and May. She suggested waiting a few days to check for earlier appointments.
“We’re not saying wait to get vaccinated, we’re saying wait a day or two before you jump into the queue,” to try to book an appointment, Gifford said. “We definitely want everyone age 55 to 64 to get vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
She said more appointments should open up in the near future as vaccine supplies increase and clinics, pharmacies and other providers add more slots. Gifford urged residents to feel comfortable taking any of the available vaccines, adding that they are all “extremely safe and extremely effective.”
“The best vaccine for you is the first one you can get,” Gifford said as providers start to receive the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
She said the state has asked providers to let people know what vaccine will likely be available when they make an appointment.
“We do want people not to show up and say I don’t want that vaccine and let their appointment go unfilled . ... We hope people will take the first vaccine available to them. I certainly will,” Gifford said.
She said they are not seeing unusual levels of allergic reactions from any of the vaccines and the only warning is to not take the vaccine if a person has a known allergy to one of the component of the vaccine.
Gifford said the decision for Connecticut to switch to an age-based roll-out process going forward was a difficult one that she understands people are disappointed in, but stressed that it is an efficient model.
As individuals continue to get vaccinated, Gifford reminded everyone that it’s important to continue to wear a mask around those you don’t live with and continue social distancing from others.
A link shared on Facebook allowed ineligible residents to make COVID vaccine appointments, officials confirmed.
“We have learned that a dedicated link that was reserved solely for registering teachers was unfortunately shared online through a number of individual Facebook sites,” said Yale New Haven Health spokesman Vincent Petrini. “We immediately took action and shut down the link and we are reviewing the situation.”
Though he could not say the exact number of appointments were made, Ohm Deshpande, Yale New Haven Health’s vice president for population health and a physician leader for the provider’s vaccination efforts, said it was “a small number.”
“I don’t have a hard number yet — we are working on that,” he said Thursday. “The link was intended for educators and got abused. Needless to say it was deactivated rapidly.”
Any appointments made by ineligible residents have been canceled, Petrini said.
Connecticut moved to an age-based vaccine rollout last month, with residents aged between 55 and 64 years old eligible to sign up on March 1. People between the ages of 45 and 54 become eligible on March 22, but teachers and other in-school workers of any age became eligible on March 1.
But the intention, according to a press release issued by the state last month, was to administer the vaccine to educators “at dedicated clinics that will be set up specifically for those sectors.”
“We have teacher clinics in most places,” said Fran Rabinowitz, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. “The issue is that you also can’t restrict teachers from going wherever to get their vaccines.”
Petrini said most school districts are going through local health districts to plan vaccine clinics, but that Yale is working with some.
“Yale New Haven is only working with school districts that have approached us directly and we have been working in full collaboration with local health departments and the state Department of Public Health,” he said.
He did not say which school district or districts the link was intended for, but Greenwich is among those school districts that are working with Yale to distribute vaccines to school-based personnel, according to the school district.
“We are currently running efficient and safe vaccination clinics that require extensive logistics,” said Dana Marnane, vice president of public relations at Greenwich Hospital, which is part of th Yale-New Haven system “To continue to best serve our entire community, this was the optimal way to proceed.”
As for how to prevent such breaches in the future, Deshponde said Yale was “working” on the issue
“We have deactivated the link,” he said. “We are working on other tech solutions to make it more stringent.”