New Details On COVID-19 Booster Shots, Vaccinations Surge In CT

CONNECTICUT — Coronavirus cases and the daily positivity numbers are on the rise in Connecticut, but so is the vaccination rate.

Dr. Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, delivered the somewhat encouraging report during a news conference in Groton on Monday with Gov. Ned Lamont.

"Over the last three weeks, we have seen increases in the number of people initiating the vaccine series," Gifford said.

Health officials are seeing similar renewed interest in the vaccine all around the country, particularly in states which have had much lower vaccination rates than Connecticut, according to Gifford.

"But even in Connecticut, where we still have several hundred thousand people left to be vaccinated, we're starting to see that rate pick up, so that's a really good sign," Gifford said.

Lamont attributed the spike in vaccinations to concern over the more transmissible coronavirus delta variant.

As of Thursday, Connecticut residents who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose by age group includes 96 percent of those over the age of 65, 86 percent of those 55-64, 76 percent of those 45-54, 73 percent of those 35-44, 64 percent of those 25-34, 61 percent of those 18-24, 69 percent of those 16-17, and 53 percent of those 12-15.

According to Gifford, the spread of the delta variant has raised the bar for what residents can expect regarding the elusive promise of herd immunity.

Herd immunity is achieved when the proportion of a population that is immune to a disease is greater than the percentage of the population capable of contracting the disease.

Gifford advised residents to instead place their confidence in the vaccine.

"There is laboratory evidence that you get a much stronger and more robust immune response after vaccination than after a COVID infection, and that's why we continue to recommend that even those who had COVID go ahead and get vaccinated."

Lamont said the state was "moving closer to booster shots" of the COVID-19 vaccine, but Gifford stressed that boosters will not likely be needed by everyone.

"If there are boosters that are required, it will just be for a sub-set of those of us who are vaccinated, probably immunocompromised, probably over a certain age," she said.

Although the need for boosters may coincide with the opening of a new, below-age-12 eligibility tier for the vaccine in the fall, Gifford said that inventory "won't be an issue" as there is now "ample supply" of the vaccine.