‘They’ve won the lottery’
A day in the life of a COVID-19 vaccine clinic
GREENWICH — Walk into the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center in Old Greenwich, and it’s looks like the sort of unassuming public building that can be found in nearly every town in Connecticut.
Lit by the glow of fluorescent lighting, enlivened by soft rock music playing over the sound system, it’s a facility that typically attracts crowds for youth basketball games, model train shows or the Lions Club’s pancake breakfast.
But it is a special place for people seeking their vaccination shots against COVID-19. And for many, the trip through those glass doubledoors is a life-changing event.
For the dozens of people who streamed into the aging brick building on a recent afternoon at the clinic run by the nonprofit Family Centers health-care program, that vaccine might mean seeing a family member for the first time in nearly a year, eating inside a restaurant again, or smiling at a friend.
“A lot of grateful people. It’s a pretty happy place to be,” said Heather Dawson, the vaccination director and nurse practitioner working at the clinic. “We had one person who said, ‘I haven’t been out of the house in a year.’ She was shaking with excitement.”
It’s a scene repeated across the state, and the nation, as the COVID-19 vaccination program expands to more of the population just about a
year after the coronavirus hit so hard.
Nearly everyone arrived early for their appointments, and they often apologized while standing around. No worries, came the reply from staff — they understand.
First there was a check-in, and a request to verify their identification. There was not much waiting time to go from check-in to vaccination, the process was fast and smooth.
Two nurses dispensed the Moderna shots in the makeshift clinic in the Civic Center’s utility room, and during a recent vaccination session, many of the patients were teachers who had become priority recipients due to recent changes initiated by the office of Gov. Ned Lamont.
A nurse dispensing the shots, Denisha Russell, took a reassuring and humorous approach as she prepared to vaccinate the recipients who rolled up their sleeves for her.
“You won’t even know it — I’m fast and furious,” Russell told Heather Sanderson, a teacher from Glastonbury who drove down to Greenwich with her husband, Timothy. The nurse explained the procedure, how the follow-up vaccination would work and the possibility of some soreness or itching where the needle went in.
It’s been a pleasant job,
Russell said, gesturing to the vaccination recipients who were seated nearby. “It’s as if they’ve won the lottery, and it’s a million-dollar ticket,” she joked.
“Yea, thank you so much,” Sanderson said after getting her vaccine. She then took a seat in a waiting area, where she stayed for 15 minutes, to make sure there no adverse reactions to the shot — a highly unlikely outcome, the medical staff said.
Sitting down for her waiting period, Sanderson said the short procedure could open up possibilities for her and her husband, also a teacher in Glastonbury, that had been closed off for the last year. They have only had limited contact with their daughter in Brooklyn, N.Y., she said.
“I just want to go back to things when they were normal,” she said.
“We haven’t been to a restaurant in one year,” said Tim Sanderson, “Takeout only.”
Alaina Kakos, a Danbury resident who teaches in Ridgefield, said the procedure was short and simple, but it would leave a lasting memory.
“I took a picture, which I want my kids to see, it’s kind of like being part of history,” she said. Kakos was planning to celebrate at some point, “maybe with a glass of wine,” and she was also looking to tell friends and colleagues about the experience. Kakos said she knows there are people who are a bit uncertain or hesitant about taking the vaccine. “I’m certainly going to share this, to alleviate fear,” she said.
It’s been nearly a year since Michael Marchetti has seen some of his older regulars seated in the dining room of his Stamford restaurant, Columbus Park Trattoria. Fearful of the COVID-19 risk, the seniors stuck to takeout until the weather warmed up, and then nervously ate outdoors in the summer. As winter approached, they went back to takeoutonly orders.
But in the past few weeks, Marchetti has seen some of those familiar faces return. Spotting the names of one couple on the reservation list, he told his manager, “I bet they had their vaccines.”
They did, and they were out to celebrate, he said: “The wife came in and gave me a big hug. She said, ‘We’re here, we’re back.’ ”
As Connecticut’s agebased vaccine rollout continues, restaurant owners are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. For 12 months, they’ve been battered by COVID-19 and its effects on the economy: indoor dining shutdowns, limited capacity and other restrictions, and waning consumer confidence. But as more state residents get vaccinated and more guests feel comfortable dining out, restaurateurs are starting to see signs of relief .
Marchetti said January business was “brutal” at Columbus Park Trattoria on weeknights like Monday and Tuesday, where he would see four or five seatings the entire night. He said a 10 p.m. closing time, instituted by Gov. Ned Lamont’s office in November as COVID cases spiked, didn’t help. On especially slow nights, they’d wind down dinner service as early as 7:30 p.m.
But as Connecticut residents are getting their shots, “we haven’t been breaking records, but
there’s a little more consistency,” he said. “It feels a little bit normal and people are acting that way.”
“It’s been a year, a long, long time. People want to sit at a bar, order their beer, get a plate of chicken wings and just watch the game on TV. They want to go out to dinner.”
Matt Storch, who owns Match Restaurant in South Norwalk and Match Burger Lobster in Westport, said he hasn’t yet seen many older customers in their 70s and 80s return to his restaurants. He is, however, seeing a lot of guests in the 55- to 65year-old range — their children’s ages.
“I think their parents have been vaccinated,” he said. “So even if they’re not vaccinated [themselves], they’re feeling a little more comfortable about coming out.”
The 55-plus age group, eligible for the vaccine as of March 1, makes up a significant portion of Storch’s clientele, so he thinks more guests will return over the next month as they receive their doses.
Scott Dolch, the executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, said the framework of the age-based vaccine rollout is giving restaurant owners a more tangible sense of when they may see more customer turnout.
“I’ve had a lot of good discussion with my restaurateurs, because [they say] ‘Listen, a lot of our guests are over the age of 55, or over the age of 45. We didn’t know when they would be vaccinated. We didn’t know how much longer to get through,’ ” he said.
Dolch said he’d heard from several restaurateurs after Valentine’s Day, who called to say — like Marchetti — that they’d seen regulars in their 70s return to dining rooms that weekend, with vaccination card in hand, thrilled to be out to dinner after a long and stressful year.
In New Haven, Jason Sobocinski is also expecting a successful spring and summer, as the weather warms and diners’ consumer confidence builds with more vaccinations. He and his business partners reopened Ordinary, their Chapel Street cocktail bar, in late February as Gov. Lamont extended the restaurant curfew to 11 p.m.
“We’re staying within our parameters; everyone’s spread out,” he said. “But we’re seeing more reservations starting to
get booked, and even more so in the subsequent weeks. So that’s exciting to see.”
Wedding bookings are another hopeful sign, he said. Olmo on Whitney Avenue, where he is a co-owner, has 20 to 25 weddings on its catering schedule from August to November.
Dolch also said the age-based vaccine timeline is helping set realistic expectations for those planning weddings and celebrations this year.
“It’s not [just] going to be grandparents, but by the time we get to the June wedding, the parents [of the couple] will probably have both vaccinations if they’re from Connecticut,” he said. “The timeline, I hope it stays accurate ... and I hope we have enough vaccines, but I think it could be a really, really good thing for what the summer could look like.”
Marchetti has booked a “couple dozen” bridal showers, baby showers and rehearsal dinners for late May and beyond, he said. But one key piece of revenue — business and corporate dinners — is still largely missing, and he’s not sure when it will return.
“If it’s a big company [with local presence] that has a global or national presence, those companies there tend to operate on the more conservative level and will say they’re not planning on being back in the office until the fourth quarter of 2021, first quarter of 2022,” he said. “Whereas a smaller firm that can move and navigate these situations a little more freely ... could change on the fly and say hey, things are looking great, we’ll be back in the office by spring.”
Storch said his restaurants are missing the business-related revenue as well. His customers who work in sales have lamented the pause on business entertaining, he said, as they find it much more difficult to close a deal “through a computer” than over lunch or dinner.
“That world hasn’t really started yet, and I don’t know what kickstarts that,” he said. “My guess would be customer confidence, and the state saying we’re going to lift restrictions, everyone can go back to work and entertain now.”
But as his guests return to the restaurant, Marchetti says he can see the joy on their faces. In late February, he said hello to an older couple taking their seats, and the woman hugged him, with tears in her eyes. “She said, ‘We’re finally out; it's been a year. It feels so good to be talking to people. We're so happy that you’re here, that you’re open. We got our vaccines, and we feel like we can live again.’ ”
For a long time, Honda Smith, an alder in New Haven, was too afraid to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I was afraid of dying, and I was afraid the vaccination was not going to work,” she said. “I was afraid because I was listening to Facebook doctors, and not trusting the science and the real doctors.”
Those involved in Connecticut’s vaccine distribution say the reasons behind such hesitancy vary. Some feel the vaccine approval process was rushed, while others may have trouble obtaining accurate and clear information.
And in communities of color, fears run deeper, stemming from a history of mistreatment.
Experts say the vaccine is safe and has been thoroughly tested, even if the process seems rushed. But a census.gov study from late January found about onequarter of U.S. adults were unwilling or unlikely to get the vaccine.
(A DataHaven survey from last summer found that 20 percent of Connecticut residents would not take a vaccine if it became available.)
Smith’s reluctance came from misleading information she saw on social media, she said, adding that she became more comfortable with the idea of getting vaccinated as she started researching the science behind it.
But it was a mid-February conversation with her oldest sister, an Arizona resident who is over 70, that really changed Smith’s mind
“She was saying that she was waiting to go back for her second dose of the vaccine,” Smith said. “I was like, OK, I’m gonna just, you know, woman up and go and take this vaccination.”
Another push came from Smith’s doctor, who told her the vaccine was safe, she said.
Smith got her first shot late last month. It was partly for her own safety, but also to set an example for her community.
“I’m just hoping that those that do follow me and those that trust me will do as I have done,” she said.
Other than a runny nose, Smith said, she did not have any problems from the vaccine.
The weight of history
Smith got vaccinated at a clinic hosted by New Haven’s Varick Memorial AME Zion Church, which serves one of the city’s historically Black neighborhoods.
“I have witnessed a lot of that vaccine hesitancy among African Americans,” said Varick’s pastor, the Rev. Kelcy Steele. “It’s a cultural issue. … I’ve been able to encourage a few who were on the fence to get the vaccination, but still there are those individuals who are opting out.”
Historic wrongs against Black Americans, with the Tuskegee Study perhaps the most infamous example, can fuel fear of vaccination, according to Steele and others.
In the Tuskegee Study, which lasted from 1932 to 1972, researchers in Alabama tracked Black men with syphilis to study how the disease progressed, without informing the men of the study’s purpose or offering them treatment, even when penicillin was introduced in the 1940s as the drug of choice.
Then there was Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman who in the 1950s was treated for cancer at Johns Hopkins.
Lacks’ cells were taken without her permission, according to Maya Doyle, a Quinnipiac University professor of social work.
Those cells have been replicated thousands of times, Doyle said, calling Lacks’ story “another example of taking advantage and using people of color as part of experiments without their knowledge and consent.”
The Rev. Iona Smith Nze, of the Bethel AME church in Bridgeport, said history weighed on her as she decided whether to get vaccinated.
“I come from a culture and a people that are very aware of the Tuskegee experiment, very aware of Henrietta Lacks,” she said.
It was “in (her) DNA” to be skeptical, Nze continued.
“I don’t want to be a guinea pig,” she said.
But Nze, who also was worried about the trial period for the vaccine, ultimately decided to get it.
She was inspired partly by her older congregants, who got vaccinated despite their knowledge of past wrongs.
“They were willing …. to take the vaccine in order to protect themselves, and I couldn’t look away from that,” Nze said. “Once they told me that they had gotten their first and then their second vaccines, I felt more confident than ever to do it, and to be a role model with them.”
Addressing concerns
Aaron Best, pastor of St. Matthew Baptist Church in Bridgeport, hears about twice a day from people worried about getting the vaccine, he said, adding that they often mention the Tuskegee study.
To ease these concerns, Best said, he points out that the vaccine is not targeted to a specific group of people – it’s global.
“My community needs to really know the facts, and they need to be educated more on this vaccine, and how it will save their lives and their families’ lives,” Best said.
Experts also said providing good information is important in addressing vaccine hesitancy, not just among people of color but among the general population, too.
“What I try to tell people is being hesitant is normal, having questions is natural, but it’s where we get our information from that’s important,” said Dr. Lisa Cuchara, a professor of biomedical engineering at Quinnipiac University.
Some folks have told Cuchara they were worried about getting the vaccine because they believed it could change their DNA, which experts say is not true.
“MRNA is just like an instruction manual,” Dr. Brita Roy, an assistant professor of medicine at Yale, explained. “Your cell reads those instructions and makes a protein that is on the surface of the virus cells, and then that instruction manual is destroyed.”
Your body then learns to recognize that protein and develops an immune response against it, Roy said.
Another common concern is how quickly the vaccine was developed. Torrington resident Tony Holmes, who said he doesn’t plan to get vaccinated, noted that vaccines usually are tested for four to five years before they’re used on the public.
“This one is less than a year old,” he said
But according to Roy, “the trials were actually the largest trials that we ever had and they all followed the standard trial protocols.”
Several factors helped speed development, including global collaboration and government funding, she said, adding that finding volunteers to test the vaccines proved easier than ever before.
“There were no shortcuts,” Roy said.
In February 2020, the coronavirus was still an abstract idea on this side of the globe. It was a major public health crisis centered in Wuhan, China, though. And by the beginning of March, the first few fatalities had hit Washington state nursing homes, in a hint that the nation’s seniors, the Greatest Generation that survived World War II and the Great Depression, were vulnerable.
Following is a timeline of those first days of the pandemic in Connecticut, exactly one year ago.
Monday, March 2 — U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams visits Connecticut for two days, touring the state laboratory in Rocky Hill, giving Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal a highprofile hand-washing lesson. There is no public discussion about masks or the state’s need for personal protective equipment. Later, at the Governor’s Residence, Lamont and leading state lawmakers tried to get assurances that the federal government would help provide more COVID-19 test kits, but Adams couldn’t offer any. “If the question is, are we adequately prepared, that remains to be seen,” Kevin Dieckhaus, chief of UConn Health’s division of infectious diseases, said that day.
Tuesday, March 3 – While Gov. Ned Lamont hosts Adams for a second day, then-President Donald Trump mocks the health threat. That evening, Lamont joins Attorney General William Tong in a very public meal at a West Hartford Chinese restaurant, in an attempt to calm down anti-Asian sentiment. “This virus doesn’t discriminate and neither should we,” Lamont says. While 800 COVID test kits have been received by the state, only two people had been tested. In Washington state, two people have died and a total of 18 COVID patients had been confirmed. On Wall Street, the Dow lost 785 points, nearly 3 percent. Politically, on a Super Tuesday night with more than 14 primaries, Joe Biden surges nationally, but U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders won the Democratic primary in California.
Wednesday, March 4 – Connecticut still has no cases but surrounding states do, including an entire family in New Rochelle, N.Y., where a cluster is forming — not far from Greenwich. At Stamford Hospital, Dr. Michael Parry, chairman of infectious diseases, declares coronavirus a pandemic. “Whether we want to admit that we’re there is another question,” he says. He calls for town hall-style meetings to reassure hospital staff and stress the importance of personal protective equipment in a pandemic. Nationally corporations, including Amazon and Swiss food giant Nestle, cancel business trips.
Thursday, March 5 — UConn officials tell Lamont that 20 students are being monitored for symptoms, including a group that just came back from Italy, one of the world’s hot spots. One of the students had returned to a parttime job at a day care facility. A core group of Lamont’s inner circle, led by Chief of Staff Paul Mounds — in his first week on the job — and legal counsel Bob Clark, discuss triggering emergency powers. Lamont is told that the state is monitoring more than 200 people for possible infection. On Wall Street, U.S. stock indexes lose another 3.5 percent. In Stamford, online job-search giant Indeed asks all employees to work from home. In Washington, the U.S. Senate approves $8.3 billion to fight the coronavirus, including testing, vaccine development and personal protective equipment.
Friday, March 6 — Lamont is in his hometown of Greenwich when the state’s first COVID case is identified at Danbury Hospital. With his security detail, the governor quickly drives to meet Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton at the hospital, later summoning the news media. “There is no cause for panic or anxiety,” he says. The novel coronavirus has jumped the border, showing up in a female employee of Danbury and Norwalk hospitals. She lives in New
York’s Westchester County. Officials from Nuvance Health said the infected employees worked in isolated parts of the hospitals and had limited contact with coworkers. State health officials say 42 possible COVID cases have been tested and none have come back positive. In Austin, Texas, the South by Southwest music and technology festival is canceled. On the Grand Princess cruise ship off the California coast, 21 cases of COVID are found, including 19 crew members.
Saturday, March 7 — The second COVID case, a physician employed at Bridgeport Hospital who lives in New York, is reported. Both of the cases are traced back to the New Rochelle outbreak. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal calls for more testing equipment while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declares a state of emergency and orders nursing homes to prohibit visitors.
Sunday, March 8 — Around 9:30 a.m., Mounds, Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe, Department of Public Health officials and Jonathan Harris, a former state senator and Lamont adviser, discuss how to enact the governor’s emergency powers. Lamont and his team later offer an overview to legislative leaders in a telephone briefing that lasts an hour. The first case of a Connecticut resident, a middle-aged Wilton man, is reported at Danbury Hospital. He is believed to have contracted the infection during a recent trip to California. Nationally, 21 people have died from COVID-related illness. In northern Italy, 16 million people were ordered locked down for a month, as the national fatality toll there rises to 366. Lamont issues health recommendations. “If …travel is not essential, you should reconsider.”
Monday, March 9 — Lamont participates in a White House update with at least a dozen other governors. Two companies, LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics, begin processing COVID tests in their state labs to supplement the state public health laboratory in Rocky Hill. Visitors are prohibited from nursing homes, where the virus is beginning a devastating rate of infections that will kill thousands of the state’s elderly. “We are doing everything in our capacity to put adequate plans in place,” Lamont says.
Tuesday, March 10 — Lamont declares civil preparedness and public health emergencies, allowing him to rule the state by executive order. Dozens more will follow in the coming weeks. Drivethru testing, inspired by similar programs in South Korea, begins in Greenwich, Stamford and Stratford. The governor announces that the second Connecticut resident has tested positive, a female health care worker in her 60s from Bethlehem who had recently returned from a trip to Nevada. She worked at Bridgeport Hospital.
Wednesday, March 11 — The last day of the General Assembly. After the House of Representatives finishes its business, the Capitol is ordered shut down for a four-day weekend of cleaning and sanitizing. It does not reopen to the public in 2020. The NCAA cancels its March Madness basketball tournament. Westport tracks multiple exposures of COVID from a party that is said to have had 40 participants, but later is found to have closer to 100. Five Hundred high schoolers rally at CIAC headquarters in Cheshire to protest cancellation of high school tournaments.
Thursday, March 12 — The State Laboratory has performed 95 tests and found six positive and 89 negative. Major League Baseball cancels the remaining spring training season and announces that the start of the regular season would be delayed two weeks. Dr. Mathew Cartter, the state’s veteran epidemiologist, warned that thousands of state residents could die from COVID. Among Lamont’s emergency decrees, he limits the size of gatherings to 250 people, shelves the 180-day school-year requirement and extends Department of Motor Vehicles renewal deadlines.
Friday, March 13 — At the state Department of Labor, 2,000 people file for unemployment benefits in one day, up from an average of 500 a week. It’s the first sign of a flood that would bring more than 1 million jobless claims in the state. And it signals a recession as travel and restaurant dining slow dramatically. Lamont moves closer to ordering a full shutdown of the state. Nationally, President Donald Trump declares an emergency, while across Connecticut, shoppers empty supermarket aisles of toilet paper, soap and sanitizer. Yale University, citing the lack of testing equipment available from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announces that it has replicated the coronavirus test.
Saturday, March 14 — New York reports its first fatality, an 82-year-old in Manhattan. Infections rage in the suburb of New Rochelle, less than 13 miles from the border with Greenwich. New York’s caseload rises to 500. Connecticut COVID cases double, to a total of 20, including 15 in Fairfield County. “I want to assure the people of Connecticut that the acts we are taking are being done with their safety in mind,” Lamont says.
Sunday March 15 — Lamont’s executive orders cancel classes in public schools, extend city and town budget deadlines and close DMV operations for in-person business. Medical professionals in Connecticut express fears about potential shortages of hospital beds and equipment, including ventilators to intubate the most ill patients. Movie ticket sales collapse.
Monday, March 16 — A new executive order reduces social and recreational gatherings to 50 people and limits restaurant, bar and private club operations to takeout and delivery. Lamont also closes off-track betting facilities as well as gym, sports, fitness, recreation facilities, and movie theaters. Nationally, health departments report 18 fatalities, the largest number of coronavirus-related deaths in a single day, bringing the total to 85. Major League Baseball postpones the season indefinitely, the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that games are put on hold. The Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport cancels public church services.
Tuesday, March 17 – Connecticut’s first death, an elderly man, occurs at Danbury Hospital but is not announced. With 68 confirmed COVID cases, state health officials speculate that as many as 6,800 people could be infected. Bridgeport Hospital launches drivethrough testing. Jobless claims rise to 30,000 with no end in sight. In Washington, President Donald Trump asks Congress for an aid package.
Wednesday, March 18 – Lamont orders shopping malls and public amusement areas closed. He leads a moment of silence at what has become his daily coronavirus briefing, after announcing the state’s first fatality, an 88-year-old who had been residing in an assisted-living center in Ridgefield. By the end of the month, the Department of Public Health will report that 85 nursing homes residents have contracted COVID, 42 are hospitalized and 11 have died. “The first death is not unexpected, but it’s a shock. It’s a shock because it makes this so real for all of our families. Our hearts go out to that man and his family,” Lamont says. “Our hearts go out to all the families across the state of Connecticut and our great state.”
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