Lamont Relaxing Some Coronavirus Restrictions

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont announced that he will relax some coronavirus restrictions on houses of worship and restaurants.

Lamont will eliminate the 100-person cap on religious ceremonies and leave in place the 50 percent capacity limit. Social distancing and mask use still need to be enforced.

“Our better numbers are allowing us to slightly relax some of the restrictions,” he said at a news conference, noting that they tend to skew toward an older demographic that is now getting vaccinated.

The restaurant curfew will be pushed back from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. with 50 percent dining capacity. Lamont noted other nearby states have eliminated or pushed their curfews later into the night, but generally Connecticut allows a higher capacity limit. The move should happen by Tuesday.

The Connecticut Restaurant Association applauded Lamont's change.

"This is another step in that direction, and the extra hour will be a benefit to restaurants across the state," said Scott Dolch, executive director of the association in a statement. "At the same time, it's important that we take further steps in the weeks ahead, including fully lifting this curfew just as neighboring Massachusetts and Rhode Island have done. Connecticut can continue to be a leader on fighting COVID while also being mindful of our economic recovery."

The state’s infection rate and many other indicators are also pointing in a more positive direction lately. The state reported 3,941 new cases over the past three days and a positive test rate of 3.86 percent. The seven-day positive test rate average dipped below 4 percent for the first time in months, Lamont said.

Coronavirus hospitalizations have seen several consecutive days on the decline with a 73-patient drop over the weekend down to 912 hospitalized. The state also reported another 73 deaths over three days, which brought the state total up to 7,119.

Vaccines

Connecticut lost a day of vaccination appointments due to the snowstorm, but Lamont predicted the state would be back on track by Sunday.

More than 425,000 doses have been administered in the state as of Monday with 86,000 being second doses.

Around 45 percent of Connecticut’s 75 years old and older population has received at least one dose of the vaccine as of Monday. However, the vaccination rate varies widely on a town-by-town basis.

Going forward people likely won't get to choose what vaccine they get when more come to market, Lamont said.

"This is already one complicated Rubik Cube... these vaccines are all incredibly effective at keeping you out of the hospital and preventing deaths, so I would not get hung up on the brand name."

Currently, only Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Johnson & Johnson announced it would file for emergency use in early February and would have doses ready to ship as soon as the company gets FDA approval.

Johnson and Johnson's single-shot vaccine is 72 percent effective in the U.S. overall. It demonstrated complete protection against coronavirus-related hospitalization and death 28 days after administration in trials.

"A one-shot vaccine is considered by the World Health Organization to be the best option in pandemic settings, enhancing access, distribution and compliance," said Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer for Johnson & Johnson in a statement. "Eighty-five percent efficacy in preventing severe COVID-19 disease and prevention of COVID-19-related medical interventions will potentially protect hundreds of millions of people from serious and fatal outcomes of COVID-19."

Some other vaccine candidates including AstraZeneca are also in the testing pipeline.