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Conn. Residents 75+ Can Register Online For Vaccine

A nurse draws a dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
SCOTT HEINS/OFFICE OF GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO
A nurse draws a dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Connecticut officially opened its online registration for phase 1b of its Coronavirus vaccine rollout Thursday morning, just days after New York’s website went live with an appointment backlog. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced residents age 75 years and older can now register online for a vaccination for appointments available starting Monday, January 18th. Those interested are urged not to try to contact their primary care providers to try to schedule a vaccine appointment. Residents without internet access can call Connecticut’s COVID Vaccine Appointment Assistance Line at 877-918-2224.

Lamont says appointments will be extended to those 65 years and older, and people with underlying health conditions, in the coming weeks.

The state estimates 1.3 million people will be eligible for this phase of the vaccine, but about 46,000 doses are expected to be delivered each week from the federal government. The Connecticut website went live with a caveat:

“While appointments may not be available immediately at this time, please know that the State continues to be limited by the amount of vaccine provided by the federal government. The Department of Public Health is continuing to enroll providers and staff, and we expect that access to appointments will grow, particularly for priority populations, as our supply from the federal government increases in the coming weeks.”

The announcement is similar to a warning on the State of New York’s vaccine registration page for residents age 65 and older, which also blames limited shipments by the Federal government for lack of access:

“ALERT! OVER 7 MILLION NEW YORKERS ARE NOW ELIGIBLE FOR THE COVID VACCINE BUT THE STATE ONLY RECEIVES 300,000 DOSES PER WEEK FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.”

The announcement said appointments in New York are already booked for the next 14 weeks —more than three months out.

Copyright 2021 WSHU

Cassandra Basler comes to WSHU by way of Columbia Journalism School in New York City. She recently graduated with a Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship, which means she has two years to report on an issue anywhere in the world (she's still figuring out where she'd like to go). She grew up just north of Detroit, Michigan, where she worked for the local public radio affiliate. She also wrote about her adventures sampling the city cuisines for the first guidebook to be published in three decades, Belle Isle to 8 Mile: An Insider's Guide to Detroit. Before that, Cassandra studied English, German and Urban Studies at University of Michigan. When she's not reporting on wealth and poverty, she's writing about food and family.
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