Gov. Ned Lamont will delopy the National Guard to replace state workers who are non-compliant with the state’s vaccine mandate. He announced on Oct. 9 that 12 state workers were fired for not complying with the vaccine mandate.
In an effort to encourage more residents to protect themselves, and others in their communities from COVID-19, Lamont updated the requirements of the vaccine mandate to include state employees, childcare staff and staff of Pre K-12 schools. They are now required to be vaccinated or if exempt from the vaccine, receive weekly testing.
Despite the announcements of the mandate and extended deadline of Oct. 4, around 3,000 state employees and residents have yet to comply.
Initially the deadline was Sept. 27, but state employee union leaders requested additional extensions to advocate for the same choices healthcare workers are provided, vaccine extensions and personal reasons. Lamont refused.
However, Lamont later acknowledged some state employees were having paperwork issues and granted the statewide extension, but warned employees that refuse to comply will be sent home on unpaid leave.
Hamden Democratic mayoral candidate Lauren Garrett believes it is well past time for everyone to be vaccinated.
“People have had quite a bit of time to do the right thing, get vaccinated and protect the people,” Garrett said. “It’s imperative to get more people vaccinated and sometimes there are consequences for not doing the right things.”
The Connecticut Department of Education has the worst compliance rate in the state due to 146 (7%) of the staff unvaccinated or getting tested each week. The state Department of Correction reported the lowest vaccination rate with only 57% of the staff vaccinated.
“I’m a fan of what Governor Lamont has done in mandating the vaccine for government employees,” Garrett said. “We’re at the mandating phase of the pandemic now.”
Within the last two weeks, hospitals and healthcare systems were presented with deadlines, and institutions like The Yale New Haven Health System already issued warnings and terminations for almost 300 employees who refused to get vaccinated.
Hamden CVS pharmacist Jack Viciguerra noticed a decrease in vaccination shots in the last month before the school year from 25-30 shots per day to 10-14 now.
“It gets a little tricky when it becomes something mandatory just because I do believe that people should have the right to make decisions on their own,” Viciguerra said.
CVS’s additional walk-in vaccine option MinuteClinic administers vaccines separately from the pharmacy, but the pharmacy only carries Moderna.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved the booster shot for the Pfizer vaccine and plans to meet next week for the third booster shot for Moderna, and Viciguerra expects there will be a spike again for vaccinations.
“In terms of answering how, I really wish people wouldn’t ask facebook and potentially would do their own research in asking healthcare providers and professionals in their communities because that’s half the battle,” said Viciguerra.
In Hamden, there are a variety of walk-in vaccine clinics including MinuteClinic, Walgreens Pharmacy, and RiteAid Pharmacy.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health reports over 2.3 million people fully vaccinated, as of Thursday, Oct. 7.
For more information regarding Covid-19 updates, visit qvhd.org.