Gov. Ned Lamont is touting Connecticut's early success at delivering the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, while predicting the state won't get bogged down in a "supply/demand disconnect."
The governor says that 75,180 people, representing more than 2% of the state population, have received the first shot. Connecticut is one of only eight states to reach that 2% delivery mark. As of Monday, the required second dose is being given to some of the medical workers who were among the first recipients last month.
State COO Josh Geballe predicts that every nursing home resident and worker willing to take the first shot will receive it by the end of this week. The governor's office is also confident it will reach its goal of completing vaccinations for members of Phase 1a (front line medical workers, nursing home patients and first responders) by the end of January.
With Phase 1a on schedule, the governor's Vaccine Advisory Group tackles the difficult and sensitive job of prioritizing which groups and subgroups get the shots next. The group's Allocation Subcommittee meets Tuesday at noon.
"We should be rolling that out over the next few weeks, for the first step," said Gov. Lamont during his Monday news conference. He says part of the delivery process for the wider group will include making reservations online to "make sure the right people are getting the vaccine at the time that they've scheduled. And, I think that will hopefully make sure we've got the best people getting the vaccine on a timely basis."
The governor is also hopeful Connecticut can avoid other states' wasteful experience of not being to inject all doses into patients before the shots expire. He says, "We're not letting that happen. With 'Just in Time' inventory, we're being very careful, and if a hospital... has some extra vaccines, looks like it's not going to be used by the end of the day, we move that to somebody else in need."