Snow Causes Canceled Coronavirus Vaccine Appointments Tuesday

CONNECTICUT — Coronavirus vaccine administration setbacks continued into Tuesday as many sites remained closed due to the winter storm.

Yale New Haven Health closed its vaccine sites Tuesday and coronavirus testing didn’t open until noon; patients are being called to reschedule appointments.

Hartford HealthCare opened all of its vaccination and testing sites.

More than 338,000 people have received at least their first vaccine dose as of Monday in Connecticut. The state ranked fourth for people with at least one dose per capita and fifth for doses administered per capita, according to the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention. It also ranks first in both categories for states that have received at least half a million vaccine doses.

Gov. Ned Lamont and other state officials pressed vaccine providers to make up for lost ground after Monday’s storm with the hope that any canceled appointments would be rescheduled by Sunday.

"We just need people to be all hands on deck, do whatever it takes to get these vaccines caught up by the end of the week," said state Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe during a Monday news conference. "It's a unique moment in time right now."

State officials anticipate that people 65 and older will be able to sign-up for appointments in a couple of weeks. Frontline essential workers and those with certain high-risk medical conditions will be able to sign-up sometime around early March.

“DPH is actively working on further information to help people understand where they might fit,” said DPH Commissioner Deidre Gifford in a state vaccine advisory group meeting.

More specific information will be provided well in advance of appointment scheduling for those groups going live, she said.

The state released new town-by-town details about how many people have gotten vaccinated, including a breakdown of residents who are 75 years or older.