CT Coronavirus Vaccine Eligibility Times Likely Being Moved Up

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont and other state officials are projecting that coronavirus vaccines will open up to everyone 16 and older within about six weeks, which is around late April.

“We are moving very fast right now… within a month and a half, everybody will be eligible,” state Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe said at a news conference.

Lamont previously set May 3 as the target date to open up vaccines to people between 16 and 34 years old, which is the last age bracket to become eligible.

Around 76 percent of all residents 75 and over have received at least one vaccine dose as of Thursday, according to the state Department of Public Health. Vaccine rates among that population barely budged since last week. Around 67 percent of people between 65 and 74 and 32 percent of people between 55 and 64 have received at least one dose.

Demand outstrips supply for now, but that will change in the near future, Lamont said.

“Every town is sort of different in terms of their mix, we’ve got to make sure that every vaccine is used, so if we find that half the towns have 65 percent of that population vaccinated, at that point we’re going to open up to the next age group,” he said.

Lamont’s administration has received some criticism for moving the state to an age bracket system instead of focusing on residents with comorbidities or frontline essential workers. Lamont and Geballe have insisted that the age bracket system is the most efficient, least confusing and most likely to drive down the number of coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths.

People between 45 and 54 years old are dying at a rate 14 times higher than the 16 to 34-year-old age bracket, Geballe said.

“Each step that we go down in age, we’re picking up the next most at-risk group of people,” he said.

Around 96 percent of all coronavirus deaths in Connecticut were among people 55 and older, according to the state Department of Public Health.