CT Releases Vaccine Age Group Information For First Time

CONNECTICUT — If there are a couple of things that Connecticut really needs from the federal government right now it’s more vaccine doses and more clarity, Gov. Ned Lamont said.

“Let’s speak with one voice that didn’t always happen over the last year to give people clear guidance, what they should be doing every step of the way,” Lamont said during a news conference Thursday.

That would especially be helpful when it comes to future projections of how many vaccine doses the state will get per week.

Connecticut has administered around 258,000 vaccine doses to date, but the one bottleneck remains the supply of vaccine coming from the federal government.

So far the state’s vaccine efforts have focused on frontline healthcare workers, nursing home and assisted living residents and staff and now members of the general population who are 75 or older.
Connecticut for the first time released a breakdown of the percentage of the population by age range that has received at least one vaccine dose.

• 0-24: 1.01%
• 25-34: 7.19%
• 35-44: 7.59%
• 45-54: 8.09%
• 55-64: 8.37%
• 65-74: 6.49%
• 75-84: 14.92%
• 85+: 21.1%

The state receives just shy of 50,000 weekly doses, most of which are from Pfizer.

Lamont spoke to Pfizer executives Thursday and said he was told there is a chance the company could double its vaccine production by the end of February and double it again come the end of March.

Around 47,000 residents over the age of 75 have been vaccinated so far in the state.

“We are already at a point where there is far more capacity built today to administer doses than we have supply coming in from the federal government by a significant order of magnitude,” state Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe said.

There won’t be a lack of sites or healthcare professionals who can administer vaccine doses, Geballe said.

The higher percentage for middle-aged groups compared to the 65-74 bracket was due to frontline healthcare workers who are still in the field, Lamont said.

One of the biggest vaccine production bottlenecks is the specialized equipment needed to mix them, Lamont said.

“We knew that, but we also knew that three months ago, where are we in that process, that’s what we are going to be asking,” Lamont said.

President Joe Biden has said he would use the Defense Production Act to speed up vaccine manufacturing, according to the Hill.

Connecticut vaccine appointments will be maintained and not canceled at the last minute, Lamont said. There have been reports out of New York of vaccine appointments being cancelled due to supply running out.