After the “confusion” was blamed for some Connecticut teachers receiving the COVID-19 vaccine too early, Governor Ned Lamont clarified the process on Tuesday.
The governor’s office launched a new layered approach to split the Phase 1B vaccination group, which includes 1.4 million Connecticut residents.
Phase 1B officially started on Monday with the vaccination of residents aged 75 and over who do not live in nursing homes.
Connecticut residents aged 65 to 74 will be the next group to be vaccinated, which is likely to start in early February, according to an indefinite schedule shared by the governor’s office.
That group will be followed by “essential frontline workers and individuals with underlying medical conditions who are at an increased risk of serious illness,” said Lamont’s office.
Lamont said these residents are likely to start receiving the vaccine around March 1. He said the deadline could change if the state receives more doses of the vaccine, including if one developed by Johnson & Johnson is approved.
“People aged 65 and over represent 18 percent of the population, but still 88 percent of fatalities,” said Lamont on Tuesday during his afternoon press conference. “So, I think you can understand why this is going to be a really important priority for us.”
The vaccine is expected to be available to the remaining essential workers, known as Phase 1C, in May. The vaccine may be available to the general population sometime in June, according to the governor’s schedule.
The launch of the vaccine for a slightly younger segment of the population below also aims to address how the virus has reached disproportionately colored communities.
“African Americans are much more likely to suffer fatality in the 70 to 79 age group than, say, a non-Hispanic white man,” said Lamont. “And Hispanics are even more likely to suffer fatality in this younger age group, so that’s another reason why we focus on 65 and above.”
Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner for the Department of Public Health, said the state will also use data monitored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine where to place vaccination clinics to ensure vaccines reach vulnerable communities.
The governor continued to ask for patience and said he believed the next Biden government would “put its foot on the gas” to increase vaccination efforts at the federal level, including the use of the Defense Production Act.
On Tuesday, Connecticut reported 2,094 new cases of COVID-19 out of 37,033 tests for a daily positivity rate of 5.65 percent. The state reported that 27 people have been hospitalized since Monday, increasing the statewide total to 1,141. A dozen more deaths brought the death toll across the state to 6,682.
As of Tuesday, 220,820 doses of vaccine have been administered in Connecticut, including 24,067 people who have received their second and final dose, according to the governor’s office.
The announcement of the Lamont vaccine schedule came when the president of the Connecticut Education Association said that the “confusion” about where teachers are prioritized during the process has caused several educators to take their vaccines very early.
In a joint memo sent on Sunday, the state Department of Public Health and the Department of Education said that some school districts “prematurely” registered their entire staff list in the federal Vaccine Administration Management System.
After users are uploaded to the web portal, they receive a message from the CDC allowing them to use VAMS to find and schedule a vaccine appointment.
Josh Geballe, the state’s chief of operations, said that only “about a dozen” school districts misunderstood the instructions. He pointed out that there are more than 200 school districts in the state and more than 300 private schools.
The governor’s office said school officials who made the appointments after Thursday were instructed to cancel them.
School districts are also being instructed not to upload more employee lists to VAMS “until they are notified,” according to Sunday’s memo.
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Gifford indicated that the teachers followed his guidelines. “When teachers understand what is being asked, they cancel the appointment and wait for the turn,” she said.
Jessica Wolf, a resident of East Windsor, a music teacher in the Somers school district, is among the educators who have already received their first dose of the vaccine. Wolf said he registered through VAMS and received the vaccine on Saturday at the Rentschler camp.
“Yesterday was my birthday,” said Wolf. “What a gift!”
Jeff Leake, president of the Connecticut Education Association, said his group “consistently advocated” that teachers be a priority in Phase 1B.
“We know that some school districts, accidentally or on purpose, put educators in line,” said Leake. “We also know that some of you had appointments scheduled, only to be canceled when the state learned that the group was not in the 75-year-old or older category. We have also been informed that there will be flaws and inconsistencies in any massive public health endeavor of this type – some people who are not in the 75-year-old or older category have been invited to receive or received a vaccine, although this is not the declared protocol. “
Some teachers in New London were vaccinated when they were not yet eligible, due to what the authorities said was probably a mistake by VAMS.
The state’s vaccination efforts are taking place as college students begin to return for the spring semester.
Students returning to the University of Connecticut’s Storrs and Stamford university residences were required to take the test at home and again over the weekend when they returned to campus.
The school found 76 cases of COVID-19 in reentry tests, according to UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz. Of these, 56 cases were detected at home and another 20 students “developed the virus” between testing at home and returning to campus, said Reitz.