Teachers Vaccinated In Southbury Against State Orders: Report

SOUTHBURY, CT — The Pomperaug Health District inoculated more than 300 teachers and school staff Wednesday against the coronavirus, the Connecticut Mirror has reported.

The move runs counter to the directives of the state Department of Public Health, as communicated to state vaccine providers in a memo from acting DPH Commissioner Diedre Gifford, dated Sunday.

In her memo, Gifford emphasized the vaccination pecking order and timeline:

Vaccine appointment scheduling is currently available only for: frontline healthcare workers, medical first responders, residents and staff of long term care facilities (group 1a) and those aged 75 and older (from group 1b). Please ensure that only members of these groups are being scheduled for appointments going forward until further notice from DPH about opening appointments to other groups.

Gov. Ned Lamont has mandated a "tiered" approach to the next phase of the coronavirus vaccine rollout that prioritizes residents most vulnerable to the virus, especially the elderly. The governor said he is directing the implementation be done in an "equitable way," with vaccine distribution points focused in areas where residents and communities have barriers to access and care.

Under the state's current mandate, residents over the age of 75 are eligible to receive the vaccine. The next phase, likely to begin in early February, will accommodate people between the ages of 65 and 74. Frontline essential workers and people with underlying medical conditions who have an increased risk for severe illness can take the jab in late February or early March, Lamont said during a news conference Tuesday.

Pomperaug Health District leaders told the Mirror that their plan to vaccinate teachers had been placed in motion more than a week earlier.

For more, see the story in the Connecticut Mirror.