Name: Lamont to speed up eligibility in CT COVID vaccination plan that ‘inspired’ president’s national timeline
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Lamont to speed up eligibility in CT COVID vaccination plan that ‘inspired’ president’s national timeline

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateA Connecticut COVID vaccination plan that partly “inspired” the president’s national timeline for all American adults to be eligible for the shot could be sped up even more, Gov. Ned Lamont said Friday.While Lamont did not provide specifics, the governor said he hopes to accelerate the eligibility for each of the age groups.“Give us a few days to get back to you, but I think we’re going to try and accelerate along the way,” Lamont said, speaking at a press conference in Danbury during a visit to a vaccination clinic for child care providers.On Thursday, President Joseph Biden announced he would direct states, tribes and U.S. territories to open vaccinations up to all adults by May 1— closely aligned to Connecticut’s plan to have all of those 16 and older eligible on May 3.“Partly Connecticut has really inspired this accelerated schedule,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who joined Lamont at the Danbury event.Coronavirus in Connecticut“We started with a goal of a million a day, 100 million in the first 100 days — the United States is gonna beat that,” Blumenthal said. “What Connecticut has shown is if you have the vaccine, people will come. Provide the vaccine, people will use it.”The senator downplayed concerns about vaccine hesitancy, saying Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan signed into law on Thursday will “turbocharge” production of the vaccines.“Vaccines are going to be available to everyone who wants it by May. Period. End of story. Everyone who wants to be vaccinated, will have it by May,” he said.Biden’s message Thursday night was a little more sanguine. The president said adults will be able to get in line for the shot by May, but admitted not everyone will be able to get vaccinated right away.“Connecticut has led in the delivery. Connecticut has said, ‘give us more vaccine and we’ll deliver it,’ and that has inspired the kind of major commitment to manufacturing that you’re seeing in the American Rescue Plan,” Blumenthal said, referring to the official name of the stimulus.It’s unclear exactly how much sooner Connecticut could make the vaccine available to each of the age cohorts used to determine eligibility.“Look, how far you open up the lense is not a function of how much we love you, it’s a question of how many vaccines we have to distribute,” said Lamont, who on Friday received his second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.The governor said the state is getting more vaccines, but the other factor is what percent of each age group is interested.Connecticut is offering the vaccine to anyone over the age of 55, along with school and child care workers in addition to health care workers, first responders and others who became eligible in earlier rounds.Under the timeline Lamont released last month, those 45 and older will become eligible on March 22. Those 35 and older become eligible on April 12 followed by everyone 16 and older on May 3.The eligibility age drops to 35 on April 12, before opening up to anyone over the age of 16 on May 3.More than 1.25 million vaccine doses have been administered in the state, according to data obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media on Friday. Of those, at least 840,000 were first doses, including about 27,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine.Nearly 80 percent of those between the ages of 75 and 84 have received at least one dose. About 61 percent have been fully vaccinated, the data shows.Those between the ages of 55 and 64 showed the highest uptake of the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine. That age bracket became eligible on March 1, a few days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the third vaccine for emergency use. The vaccine can also be stored at much warmer temperatures unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, making it ideal for smaller providers who do not have access to cold storage equipment.Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer, also noted the vaccine’s appeal because it only requires one shot for a recipient to be fully vaccinated.After slight surges earlier in the week, COVID numbers have appeared to stabilize in recent days. On Friday, Connecticut reported 1,185 new COVID cases with a daily positivity rate of 2.47 percent out of 47,985 tests. There were two fewer patients hospitalized with COVID, dropping the statewide total to 381 — the lowest it’s been since Nov. 2. There were four more deaths associated with the disease, increasing the official Connecticut death toll to 7,765.However, data from two labs conducting genomic testing of the virus has indicated that up to 40 percent of Connecticut’s cases could involve the variant first detected in the U.K., known as B.1.1.7., the Connecticut Mirror reported. Cases of a variant known as B.1.351 have also been confirmed in the state.That variant is believed to spread more easily, and scientists in the U.K. believe the strain could also be more deadly.Connecticut reported its earlier this week.Lamont downplayed concerns about the variant on Thursday, saying he has no plans to postpone lifting COVID restrictions next week. The governor has said the state will change course and reimpose restrictions if cases spike again.“Right now, the good news is the vaccine seems to be pretty successful against both of the variants,” Lamont said.Lamont noted the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which rely on mRNA, can be adapted quickly if a booster shot is needed to protect against a variant.Lamont also argued that while the variants might comprise a larger percentage of the state’s total infections, “it’s not reflected in higher infection rates and that is very important.”

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateA Connecticut COVID vaccination plan that partly “inspired” the president’s national timeline for all American adults to be eligible for the shot could be sped up even more, Gov. Ned Lamont said Friday.While Lamont did not provide specifics, the governor said he hopes to accelerate the eligibility for each of the age groups.“Give us a few days to get back to you, but I think we’re going to try and accelerate along the way,” Lamont said, speaking at a press conference in Danbury during a visit to a vaccination clinic for child care...

Lamont to speed up eligibility in CT COVID vaccination plan that ‘inspired’ president’s national timeline

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