Stamford Mayor: Remain Cautious As Coronavirus Vaccines Roll Out

STAMFORD, CT — Mayor David Martin urged residents this week to remain cautious as coronavirus vaccinations continue to roll out in Stamford.

During a coronavirus update livestream held Tuesday evening, Martin said the number of cases of the virus in Stamford are "trending in the right direction" as more residents receive vaccinations and noted Stamford Hospital had 15 patients being treated for the virus in-house as of Tuesday.

Of those patients, two were in the facility's intensive care unit, Martin said. (To sign up for Stamford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

He also encouraged residents in need of treatment from the hospital not to postpone or refrain from going to the facility due to concerns regarding the virus.

"Do not jeopardize your health to something else because of your fear," Martin said, "because they keep it safe at Stamford Hospital. There's almost no transmission whatsoever going on at Stamford Hospital."

According to Martin, 10.7 percent of Stamford residents have received the first dose of their coronavirus vaccination as of Feb. 16 and noted city officials were "talking to members of the state every day" about how they can get more doses of the vaccine to distribute within the community.

Earlier this week, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Connecticut will use age to determine coronavirus vaccine eligibility going forward instead of moving on to essential workers and people with pre-existing health conditions.

Teachers, staff and professional child care providers can also receive the vaccine in March. In his announcement, Lamont cited an overly-complex process as the reason to move forward with a simple age-based system.

During Tuesday's livestream, Stamford Health CEO Kathleen Silard also said the state changed course to get vaccinations out to people faster.

"I know that there was a lot of concern voiced about individuals with comorbidities, and we certainly want to get vaccines into the arms of those individuals as well," Silard said, "but when you think of speed to getting vaccine into arm, the age group category is probably the one that will get us there the quickest, and I think a lot of study went into that in order to make sure that we achieve that goal to prevent deaths, to prevent hospitalization and to prevent the loss of lives."

According to Silard, Stamford Health has administered 32,600 vaccines as of Tuesday evening. She also noted their ability to open up appointments to eligible residents is dependent on how much vaccine they receive.

"As soon as we get that vaccine into our inventory, the minute we receive it...we look at the blocks of appointments that we can open up to expand eligibility," Silard said, "because our goal is, the minute we get that vaccine, to get into the arm of an eligible individual. It's so important."

Residents who are eligible can sign up to receive the coronavirus vaccine online at stamfordhealth.org/covid19/vaccine or by calling 203-276-7300 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Martin said the city's health department, Stamford Public Schools and Stamford Health are already working together to develop a schedule to vaccinate teaching staff in Stamford "as soon as possible."

He also encourage residents to continue wearing a mask over both their nose and mouth, even if they have been vaccinated, and to continue practicing social distancing, washing hands frequently and avoiding large gatherings.

"The vaccine is rolling out, the cases are coming down, but COVID-19 is still out there and we still have fatalities," Martin said. "We still have people entering the ICU in Stamford and throughout Fairfield County, so it's still a danger."