Thousands of callers inundated the phone lines at local health departments Thursday morning seeking appointments for COVID-19 vaccines. Many became frustrated when they couldn t get through. I want to get the vaccine, said Deborah Padilla of Georgetown. I am hibernating a good bit and it s getting old.
Coastal Health District Director Dr. Lawton Davis expanded the list of those eligible to receive vaccines to include those over 65 and their caregivers, calling it Phase 1a+ . Vaccinations for these categories will begin Monday, but scheduling began Thursday. We know that people in Phase 1a+ are trying to schedule appointments, but we are being flooded with calls and phone systems are being overwhelmed, spokeswoman Sally Silbermann wrote in an email. The phone lines are working and we are answering and scheduling appointments as quickly as possible, but we implore the public to be patient as we move forward.
By Andreas Yilma, Staff Writer
Waterbury Hospital clinical pharmacist Fabio Caetano shows the COVID-19 vaccine as staff began to administer vaccines Dec. 15 at the hospital. -JIM SHANNON/REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
The wait for COVID-19 vaccines is over, though it will be a while longer before vaccines are available for the general public.
The state this week received its first shipment of nearly 32,000 doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech. Frontline health care workers at hospitals across the state were the first to receive the vaccine.
Locally, Waterbury Hospital received 975 doses in its first shipment and Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury received 470 doses, the Republican-American reported.
NORWICH Lori Hopkins-Cavanaugh, Norwich resident and founder of The American Liberty Center, said she and others have had enough of the COVID-19 restrictions.
“Nobody I know is going to be following (Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont’s) edicts any longer,” Hopkins-Cavanaugh said. “I don’t care if I’m arrested, and I don’t care if I’m thrown in jail.”
On Saturday, The American Liberty Center, along with other organizations across the state, including the CT Liberty Rally, the Connecticut Republican Assembly, and the American Constitution Party will hold the Open CT protest in the parking lot of the Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.