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Governor Lamont implements vaccine distribution plan to combat rising COVID-19 cases after White House warning

Ella Shi ’23, Staff Writer|December 15, 2020

Connecticut Gov. Lamont plans vaccination distribution after state COVID-19 rates reach record high in early December. The White House encourages residents to abide by protocols as holiday season approaches.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced a vaccination distribution plan on Dec. 13 after the White House Coronavirus task force specifically cautioned Connecticut about their rapidly rising COVID-19 rates.

“This is a significant moment for our state and our country,” Governor Lamont said in a press release on Dec. 13. “Here in Connecticut, we are incredibly proud to be able to say that the Pfizer team in Groton helped to develop this first vaccine to fight the coronavirus which we know will help to get our communities back to normal.”

Lamont’s vaccination distribution plan has initiated, with the first shipment planned for Monday Dec. 14 to hospitals.

“I hope that with Lamont’s plan for the vaccine, covid rates will decrease so we can go back to school normally and safely again sometime soon,” Eva Simonte ’23 said.

However, it may be a while until the vaccine is available to students, as health-care workers and those at nursing homes will take first priority.

Lamont has taken quick initiative after Connecticut’s COVID-19 rates surged post-Thanksgiving, which caused the White House Coronavirus task force to show concern.

“We share the strong concern of Connecticut leaders that the current situation is critical and that the population and health care system must do everything possible to prepare for and limit a post-Thanksgiving resurgence,” the task force said in their Nov 29. report, published by the Center for Public Integrity.

Over the last week, new COVID-19 cases have averaged 2,721 per day, according to CovidActNow.org. Fairfield County in particular has the highest number confirmed cases, per county, of over 43,000 according to Connecticut’s official state website.

The Task Force urged Connecticut residents to take precautions in order to prevent COVID-19 rates from increasing further, especially as the holiday season approaches.

“Improved public observance of social distancing measures is urgently needed to limit overrunning hospital capacity and additional preventable deaths,” the task force said. “Limiting travel throughout the next several weeks is an additional key mitigation measure this holiday season as the spread across jurisdictions make control measures much more difficult and leads to additional outbreaks.

As of now, COVID-19 rates are improving as the positivity rate decreased from a high of 8.65% on Dec. 8, to 6.9% as of Dec. 14. These numbers may continue to improve as long as Lamont and Connecticut residents are taking action by encouraging social-distancing, mask-wearing and abstaining from travel until the vaccine can be mass-distributed

“Additional measures should be taken, including communications to reinforce messages around social gatherings throughout the ongoing holiday season,” the task force wrote. “Maximizing control of transmission now will also allow for greater and earlier resumption of business activity in addition to limiting cases, hospitalizations and deaths.”