The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Lamont: ‘No lines’ for booster rollout
Days into the early rollout of COVID booster shots for those who received Pfizer-BioNTech, state officials said demand has not been overwhelming like it was when vaccines were first made available.
In a stark break from the initial vaccine rollout, Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday there were no major lines for those eligible — largely individuals age 65 and older — to get their booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
“I’m told there were no lines. Look, it’s different than it was eight months ago. Eight months ago, you had no immunity at all. Now we are saying you have 75 percent immunity, why don’t you boost it up to 95 percent. It’s good, there’s a little less urgency,” Lamont said. “People are coming in on their own pace. We don’t have to be really strict.”
Lamont, who received his booster over the weekend at the Durham Fair, urged everyone who is eligible, including those age 65 and older, frontline workers and those particularly vulnerable, to get a booster from one of more than 800 vaccination locations across the state.
“There was no line,” Lamont said of his experience. “I got it in about one minute.”
Lamont did not express any concern over a lack of urgency among people to get a booster shot days after approval.
Through the weekend, the state reported a positivity rate of 2.25 percent of new COVID-19 tests since Friday. Hospitalizations dropped by a net of 18 patients for a total of 264, according to the state data.
On Thursday, ahead of federal regulators approved boosters for certain individuals, the state said there were about 270,000 residents age 65 and older who were eligible after having received their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine more than six months ago.
Boosters remain limited to those who received a vaccine course of Pfizer-BioNTech. Federal regulators have yet to approve similar shots from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
The booster rollout comes as Connecticut continues to slowly drive up its overall vaccination rate, which is one of the highest in the nation. As of Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 78.6 percent of eligible Connecticut residents were fully vaccinated.
Josh Geballe, Lamont’s chief operating officer, said last week that about 15,000 people are getting their first dose of a vaccine every week. The numbers, he said, were driven in part by the wave of infections brought on by the delta variant.