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A resident of The Reservoir, a nursing home in West Hartford, received the COVID-19 vaccine Friday (Dec. 18).
Police officers, firefighters, municipal employees and teachers could start receiving the COVID-19 vaccination in early 2021, but the general public might not be vaccinated until the late spring or early summer, according to information relayed during an online forum Friday.
The Naugatuck Valley Health District could start receiving doses of the Moderna vaccine as early as next week, according to Jessica Kristy, the NVHD Director of Health.
UPDATE: Kristy sent an email Dec. 22 saying the NVHD is not one of the districts receiving the vaccine this week, but will be ‘soon.’
Kristy’s agency will be vaccinating members of the “critical workforce” first.
It includes “agencies like fire departments, police departments, municipal workers, (and) board of education (aka school district) employees,” she said.
That “roll out” could start in mid-January. But the situation is fluid, as there’s no word just yet on precisely how much vaccine will be available.
“It’s really exciting news, but also coming very fast,” Kristy said during a pandemic info forum hosted online Friday by The Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The video from the forum is embedded below. The article continues below.
Originally the NVHD wasn’t expecting the new vaccine until after Jan. 1.
“There are things we are doing on the back end to prepare for this,” she said.
Example — agencies are being asked to upload employee rosters to the “Vaccination Administration Management System.”
It’s the electronic medical records portal being used locally to order and track vaccine shipments, and to schedule appointments.
“This process, admittedly, has been a bit tricky. It was overwhelmed very quickly, so the system is on a bit of a delay,” she said.
“Eventually, once we start getting larger (vaccine) shipments into the state, we will be able to start expanding that out into the over 65 population, (and) the under 65 population with other health issues,” she said.
The general public could be eligible to receive a vaccine in late spring or during the summer.
“While it’s great that the Moderna vaccine is coming earlier than we anticipated, we’re still receiving very small quantities of doses to the state and then to the local level,” Kristy said. “Let’s say I put an order in for 5,000 doses to do a certain number of critical workforce employees. I may only receive a couple of hundred doses. So it is going to be a slow rollout process which will require a bit of patience.”
“We’re hopeful that we will get to the general public later this spring and early summer. I think the governor’s task force had anticipated around June or July. We are still waiting for guidance from the state Department of Health on whether or not we’ll be utilizing the VAMS system for the general public, or moving away from it and running it more like we do our seasonal influenza clinics,” Kristy said.
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The Pfizer vaccine.
Right now Connecticut is in the first week of the “phase 1” rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations. Healthcare personnel started receiving a Pfizer-made vaccine this week, including staffers of Griffin Health in Derby.
People and staff at nursing homes and similar facilities — which were hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic — started to receive vaccinations in Connecticut on Friday (Dec. 18). Those vaccinations are being handled through a partnership with the federal government, CVS and Walgreens, according to Kristy.
Click here to learn more about the vaccination phases in Connecticut.
Friday’s forum, the first of its kind locally, was a comprehensive, 90-minute look at how the lower Naugatuck Valley has dealt with the pandemic since it was first detected in Connecticut in March.
The panelists included Kristy, Griffin Health CEO Patrick Charmel, Griffin Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Frederick Browne, and TEAM Inc. CEO David Morgan. Chamber President Bill Purcell moderated.
Since March, 4,280 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Derby, Seymour and Shelton. Two-hundred and sixty-three people have died (including 40 probable COVID-19 associated deaths).
COVID-19 was brutal on local nursing homes and long-term care facilities, which accounted for 87 percent of the local COVID-19 associated deaths.
The Valley, along with the rest of Connecticut, started to see a second COVID-19 wave around Halloween.
Dr. Browne, who previously spoke about the issue during a Valley Indy podcast, theorized that the resumption of college classes combined with less vigilance likely caused the number of cases to increase again.
However, he pointed out the current phase has not been as deadly as the first phase last spring, when the NVHD was reporting multiple deaths a day.
During Friday’s presentation, Browne walked the viewing audience through how the new vaccines work. He noted little to no side effects have been reported among Griffin Health staffers this week.
Kristy pointed out that younger people are now testing positive for the virus compared to last spring.
Morgan pointed out the economic impact the virus has had on employment and the everyday lives of Valley residents. Meals on Wheels, for example, saw a 200 percent increase. Food giveaways cause mile long lines. Unemployment is up.
Charmel said hospital capacity is still manageable during this second wave. Griffin isn’t postponing elective procedures, like it did in the spring. But, with the holiday season and winter upon us, COVID-19 may not be done with us yet.
All the panelists stressed how important it is to wear masks, to wash hands, to sanitize, to observe social distancing, to stay away from large crowds.
“If you don’t have to travel, please stay home (for the holidays),” Kristy said.
Friday’s forum was made possible by Newtown Savings Bank, PerkinElmer Life & Analytical Sciences, Valley Community Foundation, Greater Valley Chamber Healthcare Council, and Valley Council for Health & Human Service Organizations.
This story summarizes only a section of Friday morning’s forum. Please click the video above to watch the forum in its entirety.
