Greenwich Hospital slated to receive Johnson & Johnson vaccine soon
GREENWICH — Positive trends are continuing to emerge in Greenwich’s COVID-19 numbers as the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to arrive soon in town.
Yale New Haven Health System has received more than 7,000 doses of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one shot compared to the two needed for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, said Diane Kelly, president of Greenwich Hospital.
Greenwich Hospital, which is part of YNHHS, will receive an allocation of those J&J doses, Kelly said Wednesday.
When resident sign up for an appointment for a vaccine with YNHHS, the website will indicate which vaccine will be administered, she said. But Kelly urged residents to not hesitate and to take any vaccine offered.
“You take the first appointment you have available to you,” she said. “I’m telling my husband that when it’s his time, and my
adult children. When it’s their time they should take the first one they have available. I don’t care the name of the dose.”
As part of a weekly update on COVID-19 in town, First Selectman Fred Camillo reported that the total number of diagnosed cases among residents was up 17 in the past week, bringing the total 4,036 cases since the pandemic began last year. The number of active cases in town is down five to 135.
Another Greenwich resident has died after a coronavirus diagnosis, Camillo said, bringing the town’s total to 82.
At Greenwich Hospital, a total of 21 patients were hospitalized with the coronavirus, down seven patients from last Wednesday, Kelly said.
“We are definitely starting to feel that decline a little bit,” she said.
Overall, the Yale New Haven Health System has 175 coronavirus patients hospitalized, down from 213 the week before, she said.
But Camillo and Kelly both urged residents to be vigilant in continuing to follow healthy habits such as wearing masks, practicing social distancing and washing hands.
“We’ve had a couple of days over the last month where we’ve been at 21 patients (with the coronavirus) and it has gone back up, but I am going to take the system trend and our trend and I am hoping for the best,” Kelly said.
Kelly said the positive trends could be due to a variety of reasons, including the availability of vaccines, residents following safety guidelines to prevent spread, and the arrival of warmer weather, sending residents outdoors again and spending less time inside.
“We’re trying to close the game,” Camillo said. “We have to keep focused as if we’re back in late March, early April of last year. If we keep going at it that way, we’ll all be fine and we’ll get there sooner rather than later. …We’re not at the finish line yet.”
More vaccines are also administered each day, they said. On Monday, the state expanded eligibility to residents age 55 to 64 as well as to all teachers and child-care
professionals. Demand surged, filling many of the vaccination appointments at the testing sites in Greenwich, Kelly said. But she urged residents to keep trying to make appointments because when more vaccines arrive, more appointment slots open.
“You just have to stick with it,” Kelly said. “If you’re on the website and you’re not able to make an appointment, just get off and wait a little bit before going back again. There really is not a magic trick. You just have to be persistent and try several times each day.”
Camillo said he ran into the same difficulties making his own appointment before he was able to secure a slot in Stamford on March 18.
Greenwich Hospital is operating vaccination clinics at Brunswick School’s King Street campus and at its offices on West Putnam Avenue. Residents can sign up for vaccines at those sites or any others in the YNHHS network at www.nhhs.org/covidvaccine.
The town is operating a clinic three days a week at Town Hall. Family Centers is also running a clinic on weekdays at Eastern Greenwich Civic Center. Residents can visit https://dphsubmissions.ct.gov/onlinevaccine to make appointments at those clinics.
Appointments are required at all vaccination sites.