CT To Receive 500,000 Vaccine Doses By End Of January: Lamont

CONNECTICUT — Connecticut’s first day of coronavirus vaccine rollout went smoothly after weeks of planning brought the state to the anticipated moment.

“I’m sure there will be challenges. I’m sure there will be dry ice issues, but so far day one and the preparation for this over the last couple of weeks has been pretty effective,” Gov. Ned Lamont said at a news conference.

Lamont anticipates getting 129,000 vaccine doses by the end of next week and 500,000 by the end of January. Two doses are required for Pfizer’s vaccine. An emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is also expected for Moderna’s vaccine candidate — that vaccine also requires two doses.

The current timeline projects 1 million people being vaccinated with both doses by the end of March.

“I as a governor am happy with the support we’ve gotten from the federal government and the CDC,” Lamont said.

Pfizer’s vaccine has to be kept at ultracold temperatures during shipment. The company is using GPS-enabled thermal sensors to ensure that each shipment is kept at ultracold temperatures until they arrive at their destination.

The thermal shippers can be used as temporary storage units by refilling with dry ice every five days for up to 30 days. Shelf life can be extended by up to six months by storing at ultracold temperatures, which have been obtained by many hospitals across the state.

The National Weather Service is forecasting up to 17 inches of snow at the Connecticut shoreline between Wednesday and Thursday. The pending storm isn’t expected to delay vaccine shipments, said Lamont Chief of Staff Paul Mounds.

Some trepidation remains over vaccine

Around 65 percent of respondents to a Hartford HealthCare survey said that they would get the vaccine as soon as it was available. The survey asked people in phase 1a, who are those most likely to be exposed to the coronavirus in hospitals.

Surveys around the country found that around 45 percent of people said they would get the vaccine right away if available, said Keith Grant, senior system director for infection prevention at Hartford HealthCare. More people who were surveyed said they would be comfortable a month or so after the vaccine was released.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration fact sheet states that some possible side effects of the vaccine are injection site pain, fatigue, chills, fever and a general unwell feeling. There is a remote risk of severe allergic reactions to the vaccine, usually within minutes to an hour after getting a dose, according to the FDA. More side effects were experienced by test subjects after the second dose.

Grant was among the first people to be vaccinated in Connecticut at Hartford Hospital Monday morning.

“We have an obligation to step forward, I think that’s what we needed today,” he said.