As cases spike, state focuses on young people
After a weekend that saw COVID hospitalizations spike, the state Monday turned its attention to vaccinating more young people, a group that has been the most reluctant to roll up their sleeves.
Gov. Ned Lamont said convincing younger residents to get vaccinated was a better strategy at this point than to order residents to wear masks or limit social gatherings.
That included gathering high school sports coaches and college students at the New Haven Green Monday to renew the call for young people to get their shots.
Lamont made the push as the weekend COVID statistics painted an increasing worrisome picture. The state’s seven-day positivity rate average is now 2.17%, now the highest since the end of April and the first time it’s been over 2% since May 5.
Hospitalizations jumped from 76 to 108, the highest since May 28. They have more than doubled in two weeks.
“I don’t know where it’s going to go,” Lamont said of the Delta variant that has become the dominant strain in the state and what
“Our young people believe that even if I get COVID, I’m not dying. I’m not getting that sick, therefore I don’t need it. I’m invincible. That’s where we have a problem right now. We’ve got to get our population between the ages of 12 and 24 to be vaccinated.” Heather Aaron, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Public Health
experts believe is fueling the increased cases. “I do know that if people get vaccinated that is the best protection we’ve got.”
Connecticut remains one of the top states in the country for the percent of its population immunized, but demand has waned significantly. Those 55 and older have much higher rates of vaccination than young adults.
“Our young people believe that even if I get COVID, I’m not dying. I’m not getting that sick, therefore I don’t need it. I’m invincible,” said Heather Aaron, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Public Health. “That’s where we have a problem right now. We’ve got to get our population between the ages of 12 and 24 to be vaccinated.”
State data shows that 80% of 55- to 64-year-olds in Connecticut are fully vaccinated compared to about 57% of 25- to 34-yearolds and 54% of 16-to 24year-olds.
The state has rolled out several incentives targeting young people, including free drinks and concert tickets for those who get immunized, but Lamont said Monday those efforts “haven’t really moved the ball dramatically.”
Lamont has recruited high school sports coaches and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, to help talk to their athletes who are still on the fence or have said they won’t get the vaccine.
Glenn Lungarini, executive director of CIAC, said the organization continues to talk with public health officials and coaches about how best to encourage young people to get vaccinated, including promoting it as a team effort and holding vaccine clinics at sports championship games.
While vaccine mandates have come up in discussion, Lungarini indicated that’s not a serious consideration at this point.
Another group enlisted to help address vaccine hesitancy is the Connecticut Public Health College Corps program, which is targeting the 18- to 24-yearold demographic.
They are going out to neighborhoods and sites across the state to talk to their peers about getting the vaccine. One of them, Tyler Jenkins, a 21-year-old Wesleyan student, descried the uphill battle ahead of them including misinformation circulating on social media platforms like TikTok and celebrities who’ve voiced their opposition to getting the vaccine.
“It’s really hard to break into their psyche,” he said.
Jenkins and Alfia Anasari, a 20-year-old University of Connecticut student and another College Corps member, said they hope to equate the vaccine with a return to socialization and enjoyment that existed before the pandemic. They also want to bill it as a “cool thing to do.”
Monday’s press conference took place on a section of the New Haven Green where Griffin Hospital has set up a daily vaccine clinic from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. until Aug. 30. Griffin has vaccinated over 31,000 people across the state, focusing mainly on those most impacted by the pandemic. While the hospital initially had more people interested than vaccine available, it now vaccinates between 10 and 20 people per clinic.
Eliot Smith, a 43-year-old city resident, came across the pop-up clinic at the green when he got off the bus Monday morning. Smith said he’s known people who’ve been hospitalized and died due to COVID.
Seated in the waiting area while he prepared to get his first vaccine dose, Smith said some of his friends haven’t been as willing to roll up their sleeves, because they’re scared of shots. He said he hoped his experience would help convince them.
“I’d rather be scared of a shot than die,” he said.