Connecticut's first round of COVID-19 vaccinations at nursing homes was completed on Friday. This marks a milestone that comes as skilled nursing facilities continue to tackle the second wave of novel coronavirus cases.
Connecticut Completes Nursing Home Vaccinations
Connecticut is currently in Phase 1a of its statewide vaccine dissemination.
The first week of 2021 ended on a positive note for the state amid a concerning increase in coronavirus cases that have been recorded with 111 fatalities in skilled nursing facilities in Connecticut from December 30 to January. 5.
With the immunization of staff and residents at LiveWell, a facility specializing in taking care of people with dementia, Governor Ned Lamont stated Connecticut became the first state to set forth inoculation to all skilled nursing facilities.
According to Lamont, "The fact that by the end of today we're going to have first doses for all of our nursing homes is an important, big deal. You know, today our infection rate spiked up again, up at about 8½%."
Workers and residents who were not yet administered the shot or who decided against it during the first series will still have an opportunity to get inoculated. Walgreens, CVS, and other pharmacies that have cooperated with nursing homes in the immunization effort are slated to make a total of three stops at the facilities.
As the first batch of COVID-19 vaccination clinics at Connecticut nursing homes came to a close on Friday, according to state and public health officials, there remains dubiousness among a couple of nursing home workers to be administered the vaccine.
Governor Ned Lamont stated on Thursday that early data from Connecticut's initial dissemination of vaccines at nursing homes indicate merely 40% to 50% of nursing home staff decided to receive the shot, reported Connecticut Public Radio.
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The last facility to hold its first clinic was LiveWell, a long-term care facility in Plantsville.
According to Lamont, "The fact that by the end of today we're going to have first doses for all of our nursing homes is an important big deal," reported US News.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice declared on December 30 that his state was the first in the United States to finish providing the first of two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to its nursing homes.
The federal government has been denounced as slow and under fire from President-elect Joe Biden, who remarked not enough of the vaccine is being manufactured.
"We are one of the first states in the country to get over two percent of our population at least their first vaccine dose," explained Lamont, reported News 8.
The Connecticut governor said it was not made clear why LiveWell was the last to be administered the vaccine.
According to a spokesperson for LiveWell, 100% of its residents have been administered the first dose of the vaccine, and an estimated 80-85% of the staff have taken the jab.
Notwithstanding the milestone, the most recent statistics still show that residents are still dying in nursing homes at a concerning rate.
Even as the first series of vaccinations were finishing in Connecticut, others were beginning to provide the second round of doses at an Apple Rehab facility in Middletown.
