Greenwich Hospital Stands Ready To Vaccinate Young Children

GREENWICH, CT — With approval expected soon at the federal level, Greenwich Hospital and Yale New Haven Health System are standing by ready to vaccinate children ages 5-11 against COVID-19.

Details of when and where Greenwich Hospital will offer vaccines to the youngest age group have not been released yet, but they're expected to be made public as soon as the Food and Drug Administration gives the go-ahead, according to hospital officials.

Vaccinations could begin the first week of November.

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration's independent advisory group recommended that the Pfizer-BioNTech application for Emergency Use Authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 be approved.

Greenwich Hospital President Diane Kelly said on Wednesday during Greenwich's biweekly COVID-19 update that this next stage in the vaccination process is important in the battle against the pandemic.

"This has been a population that has really been to me the reason why it's been so important for us to maintain social distancing and wear masks. It's an important population — the children are our future," Kelly said, adding that being protected against the virus will give children "a little bit more confidence" as they assimilate themselves back into school and other areas of life.

"I think we're always going to have to be mindful of the social distancing, but having them have the same kind of protection that we all have I think is really something to celebrate and I'm very pleased, as both a registered nurse and healthcare executive, and mother," Kelly said.

The Latest Numbers In Greenwich

In Greenwich as of Wednesday, there have been 26 new COVID-19 cases reported over the last week, bringing the total number of cases in town since the pandemic began to 5,857. Active cases, however, decreased by 17 since last week, and now sit at six.

The town reported a death since the last update two weeks ago, as 96 Greenwich residents have now died during the pandemic.

At Greenwich Hospital as of Wednesday, Kelly said there were two COVID-19 patients being treated. Across Yale New Haven Health's five hospitals, there were 57 patients being treated in-house.

"We're pleased and optimistic that those are both manageable numbers. Of course we're always wanting it to be zero, but that's probably not realistically in the cards for us," Kelly said.

Moderna booster shots are now being given out by Greenwich Hospital inside the facility's Noble Conference Room. Kelly urged eligible residents to visit the hospital website for more information and to reserve a time slot.

Just over 99 percent of Greenwich Hospital and Yale New Haven Health staff have been vaccinated, according to Kelly.

In town, 79.8 percent of the eligible population (52,482) is fully vaccinated, and 86.69 percent have a first dose.

Breakdown by age groups, fully vaccinated, as of Wednesday:

• 18-24: 86.57 percent
• 25-44: 66.61 percent
• 45-64: 81.27 percent
• 65-plus: 90.39 percent

"I'm encouraged by those numbers," Kelly added. "There are still areas around the country that are striving to get over 50 percent."