Lamont: As cases surge, get booster
CT’s seven-day average has reached 3.3 percent — the highest since early September
As Connecticut COVID cases continue to surge, Gov. Ned Lamont and the state’s top health official are urging residents to get vaccinated and receive booster shots.
Connecticut’s seven-day average for COVID cases has reached 3.3 percent — the highest since early September — and concerns are growing that it could go even higher after people gather for Thanksgiving.
As Connecticut prepares for the holiday, Lamont and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani on Monday warned that COVID will find the unvaccinated, who they said are five times more likely to become infected, 10 times
more likely to become hospitalized and 15 times more likely to die.
While Connecticut is among the nation’s leaders for having 84 percent of its adult population fully vaccinated, the state ranks ninth for booster shots at 18 percent.
“My view is don’t wait,” Lamont said of boosters. “Get it now before bad stuff can happen.”
Connecticut is opening walk-up clinics offering vaccination and booster shots at Bradley International Airport, the New Haven and Stamford train stations and other clinics in 962 locations statewide.
The rate of COVID-19 cases is increasing faster in Connecticut than any other state, according to a New York Times database that tracks state trends. Connecticut is averaging 738 cases per day — an increase of 117 percent from two weeks ago, according to the data, which was updated Monday.
Three other New England states — New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Massachusetts — trail Connecticut in seeing the biggest jump in recent cases.
But overall, the number of new cases in Connecticut remains much lower than many other parts of the country. The recent surge also contains fewer cases than previous Connecticut outbreaks, including last winter.
Michigan, which leads the nation in new cases per population, is experiencing its worst surge with an average of 8,780 daily infections, according to the NYT data.
Connecticut’s neighbors are also seeing much higher case numbers. New York is averaging 6,901 daily cases and Massachusetts is averaging 2,493.
The increased rate of cases is happening, despite Connecticut being one of the most vaccinated states in the nation.
Citing the results of a survey conducted by the state Department of Education, Lamont said 163 school districts have employee inoculation rates of 90 percent or higher. In 73 of those districts, the rate exceeds 95 percent. There are 102,447 public school educators, administrators and staff, and 12,152 employees in private schools.
“Throughout this pandemic, our educators have done everything within their powers to ensure that students continue receiving the education they deserve,” Lamont said. “These high vaccination rates show just how much they care about protecting the health and safety of everyone in their classrooms and doing everything they can to help provide an in-person learning experience.”
With 56,000 children vaccinated over the last three weeks, Connecticut has inoculated 20 percent — double the national average — of children ages 5 to 11.
“We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for this age group to get vaccinated, just like the boosters going forward,” Lamont said. “If we get through this Thanksgiving season, we get through the Christmas season, if the overwhelming majority of 5-to-11 or our 5-to-18 are vaccinated, the teachers have gotten their booster, there may be some therapies to help keep grandma and grandpa safer, we’ll find that maybe we can take a second look at masks.”
Despite an increase of 21 patients over the weekend, Juthani said Connecticut’s 268 COVID hospitalizations remain relatively low compared to when they peaked at nearly 2,000.
Juthani said health officials expect cases to rise in the colder weather when all viruses are more likely to circulate. Immunity is also waning for older adults who were first in line for vaccinations at the end of last winter.
“When it was hotter, and people were indoors in some of the southern states with the AC blowing, a lot of their rates were higher,” she said, referring to the summertime delta surge that greatly impacted southern states. “Now as the weather gets better there, we saw this last year, too. The rates were lower there. In the winter season, this is when our respiratory viruses always circulate more.”
However, Lamont said he is not considering another statewide mask mandate.
“People in the state of Connecticut know what masks have done to help protect them in their community,” Juthani said. “And people are making that decision every day when they go out into their community and see that by wearing a mask, a lot of times they’re able to go about their lives safely and it’s an asset, it’s a tool they can use to go about their lives and live it freely.”
Lamont also announced on Monday that 31 state employees have been fired after refusing to get vaccinated or comply with weekly testing. In addition, 35 employees have been placed on unpaid leave and 42 others are in the process of being put on unpaid leave for refusing to comply with the mandate, Lamont said.
Earlier in the day, Lamont said he was pleased with the number of school staff members who have been vaccinated.
Public school districts with 95-percent compliance and above include Bethany, Bethel, Branford, Brookfield, Darien, Greenwich, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, New Canaan, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Park City Prep, Ridgefield, Stamford Charter School, Trumbull, Weston, Westport, Wilton and Woodbridge.
The Amistad Academy District of New Haven, with fewer than 300 employees, had the lowest vaccination rate among public schools at 78 percent, the survey found.
Among private schools, the Heritage Baptist Academy of Wallingford has a 7-percent vaccination rate among its staff, according to the survey. Other low rates were reported at the Faith Preparatory School of New Milford, with 37 percent; Christian Life Academy of Brookfield with 55 percent; and Cardinal Kung Academy in Stamford with 61 percent. Each of those districts have fewer than 150 employees, according to the survey.