1 Lamont: State will follow CDC recommendation for third vaccination,
Gov. Ned Lamont announced late Saturday that Connecticut will follow the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that third doses of COVID-19 vaccines should be administered to individuals with compromised immune systems.
This specifically includes recipients of solid organ transplants, recipients of CAR-T-cell or hematopoietic stem cell transplant, anyone with advanced or untreated HIV infection, those in active treatment for solid tumor and hematologic malignancies, and others who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.
It also includes those being treated with high-dose corticosteroids, alkylating agents, antimetabolites, transplantrelated immunosuppressive drugs, cancer chemotherapeutic agents classified as severely immunosuppressive, tumor-necrosis blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory.
The announcement comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorization for both the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to allow for those individuals to receive a third dose. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted on Friday to recommend a third dose for these individuals.
In the announcement, Lamont said that the state’s vaccine providers are ready for the implementation of these updated regulations.
“The Connecticut Department of Public Health will work with providers and the public to ensure that individuals who need a third dose can get one,” Lamont said.
Those who qualify can make an appointment or attend a walk-in clinic at any COVID-19 vaccination location. Prescriptions or a referral is not required for immunocompromised individuals to get a third shot.
The recommended time between the second and third dose is at least four weeks.