Ten days before the new school year begins in Hartford, the city's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is pushing to get more students vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to the official HHS count, as of Friday, 49.6% of all Hartford residents, but only 35.6% of 12-17 year olds, have received at least one COVID shot.
The city hosted a vaccine clinic at the Learning Corridor on Friday, and plans more, including Saturday morning at CHET, 1214 Main St.
"We're but one of more than a handful of vaccinators in the city," says HHS Director Liany Arroyo, who toured the Learning Corridor clinic with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). "So, this is one piece of the puzzle, working to vaccinate as many children and youth as possible."
Hartford Healthcare is among the other providers.
For Arroyo and other municipal health department managers across the state, battling misinformation about the COVID vaccines has become a big part of the job.
Her advice to the vaccine-hesitant? "Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Speak to people who have been vaccinated. Be mindful of the news sources that you're reading... Speak to a healthcare professional. Speak to your doctor."
Sen. Blumenthal says the local push to vaccinate kids should be a national one: "The most important thing we can do right now, this fall, is get kids back into the classrooms. Nothing will do it like vaccinations."
"The vaccines will prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death at a very high rate, and that's what we're pushing," adds Arroyo. "That's the important piece right now."