By Brandon T. Bisceglia
Connecticut is ahead of many states when in the massive vaccination campaign against COVID-19 that began in December. Yet towns still face multiple uncertainties and logistical hurdles in getting enough doses out to curtail the pandemic.
Orange First Selectman James Zeoli announced Jan. 5 that the Orange Visiting Nurse Association submitted a request to the state for vaccines and begun preparing staffing. The state acknowledged the request, but did not provide a date for when they would be made available.
“When the OVNA is ready to distribute the vaccine a clinic will be scheduled at High Plains Community Center,” Zeoli said in his message. “Please be patient we are getting close and as information is received it will be announced.”
The Milford Health Department’s vaccine webpage has a similarly equivocal statement: “The MHD will be following prioritization of groups as determined by the CT COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group. The MHD will update this page as more information becomes available.”
The state is rolling vaccines out in phases, hoping to target the most vulnerable populations first. Phase 1a, which is already underway, is open to healthcare personnel with a risk of direct exposure to the virus, long-term care facility residents who have by far accounted for the largest proportion of coronavirus-linked deaths in the state, and medical first responders.
The state’s coronavirus portal on its website says that phase 1b – which will include groups such as frontline “essential” workers and people over 75 – will launch in January. However, as of press time no start date or other information was available on the site.
Dr. Amir Mohammad, Orange’s public health chief, said that town health departments across the state are having trouble preparing because of “significant delays” in guidelines for the next groups to get the vaccine.
He has already faced surprise requirements from the state. The Department of Public Health, he said, “came up with the last-minute requirement of purchasing a freezer for vaccine storage when they kept on saying since September that we don’t need to buy one.”
On the local side, he worries that the town will need to develop a robust communication system to inform residents about vaccine availability and guidelines. For the vaccine campaign to work, as many people eligible to receive it must be able to do so as quickly as possible.
He also thinks a more permanent stream of public health funding will be needed, “as most likely the vaccination will be required on a yearly basis.”
Most experts are pinning their hopes for a recovery from the pandemic to a swift and sweeping vaccine rollout. Connecticut was hit hard by the pandemic when it began in the spring of 2020. Over the summer and early autumn the state enjoyed some of the lowest positivity rates in the nation. That trend has reversed, though, and the state is currently logging thousands of new cases each week. Over 6,000 residents have died from the virus.