Connecticut COVID-19 vaccine rollout will be based solely on age, eliminating priority status for most essential workers; residents 55 and older and teachers eligible March 1

In a surprise move aimed at quickly vaccinating as many people against COVID-19 as possible, Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday that eligibility for the next round of shots will be based on age, with a special priority for school employees.

The move rejects the formal guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from Lamont’s own Vaccine Advisory Group and changes the priority for the next phase of vaccinations away from essential workers and people with underlying health conditions.

Residents age 55 and older, as well as school employees, will be eligible beginning March 1, according to the state’s new plan. Those groups will be followed by residents aged 45 to 54 on March 22, those aged 35 to 44 on April 12 and those aged 16 to 34 on May 3.

“The last thing we want to do is complicate the process for them and cause delays that slow things down and exacerbate issues regarding equitable access,” Lamont said. “My goal is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, and I believe this is the best path to meeting that challenge.”

At a press briefing Monday, Lamont said that the CDC’s guidance, and the state’s previous plan of vaccinating residents based on both age and other priorities, wasn’t working.

“The lens was too broad, it was too ill-defined. It’s leading to a great deal of confusion in other states, fewer people are getting vaccinated because they make it too complicated,” Lamont said.

Only one other state in the country — Rhode Island — has opted for a rollout based solely on age, according to a compilation of plans by The Washington Post.

Skeptics say the new plan risks undercutting efforts to distribute vaccines equitably across racial and socioeconomic groups. Health officials and health equity advocates have recommended prioritizing residents with underlying conditions, noting that Black, Latino and low-income people are statistically more likely to have serious pre-existing health issues.

Lamont said the state Department of Public Health will set numerical targets and work with vaccine providers to ensure that vaccines are administered to people living in the highest-risk communities in proportion to their population.

“The Department of Public Health is committed to an equitable vaccination program,” said acting Public Health Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford, who also serves as co-chair of the Governor’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group. “Sticking with an age-based vaccine rollout allows our vaccine providers to get as many shots as possible as quickly and equitably as possible into the arms of Connecticut residents.”

Prioritizing speed

Grocery store, restaurant and public transit workers, who were originally slated to become eligible for the vaccine within weeks, will now have to wait until their age group becomes eligible. For some of them, that wait will be months.

The same is true for residents with underlying health conditions, who are at significantly higher risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from COVID-19, should they contract it.

Torrington resident Jason Laviana, a grocery store employee and member of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 371, said he’s been working on the frontlines for nearly a year now, despite having an underlying health condition.

“I’m proud of the work I have done to keep my community healthy and fed. I never once demanded to stay home for my own safety,” Laviana said in statement released by the union. “I didn’t sign up to be exposed to a deadly virus at work. I was counting on this vaccine.”

But Lamont and others said Monday that shifting from the original vaccination plan — and opting instead for simplicity — may allow Connecticut to vaccinate more people.

Dr. James Cardon, chief clinical integration officer at Hartford HealthCare, said Monday that while people with underlying conditions were a particularly vulnerable group, the decision to proceed with vaccination based on age would produce a more efficient process.

“The question is, how do you operationalize this thing to make this all make sense?” Cardon said. “There are some practicalities around it that I think the state is working with to try to do this in an organized fashion so we’re not stumbling into ourselves.”

Since vaccinations began, Connecticut has ranked among the top handful of states for per capita vaccinations. Lamont and other top officials have repeatedly pointed to the state’s ranking, both in press briefings and on social media.

But public health and local officials have cautioned against too much celebration, noting that the state’s speedy rollout has so far left behind residents of color, particularly Black residents.

Connecticut’s vaccination rollout has so far produced deep disparities, with Black residents much less likely to have been vaccinated than white residents. But the new plan will add another fault line: advocates have noted that higher rates of underlying conditions and shorter lifespans mean that residents of color become at risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes at a younger age than white residents.

Nichelle Mullins, the president of Hartford’s Charter Oak Health Center and co-chair of the state advisory group’s Allocations Subcommittee, said she agrees with the governor’s new approach. But from an equity perspective, she said, an age-based rollout could be problematic.

“Going by age alone is not the best approach,” Mullins said. “You have to put other parameters in place to ensure that equity’s at the forefront of the decision-making.”

Another Lamont adviser, Dr. Reginald Eadie, president & CEO of Trinity Health New England and co-chair of the Governor’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group, said expanding access to the vaccine should be the priority.

“Using age as an eligibility criterion makes it clear to all of our residents, especially those who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, that the vaccine is here, it’s available, and provides for an easier registration process to actually receive the vaccine,” he said.

Vaccinating by age group

Connecticut’s initial vaccine rollout plan followed phases that were based on CDC recommendations and then modified by the state’s Vaccine Advisory Group.

Under that original plan, health care workers, first responders and nursing home residents were vaccinated in Phase 1A. The next phase, Phase 1B, was slated to proceed in tiers. First, residents aged 75 and older became eligible, followed by residents aged 65 to 74.

Within the next couple week, the final groups of Phase 1B — frontline essential workers such as teachers and grocery store workers, as well as residents with underlying conditions such as cancer and Down syndrome — were slated to become eligible together.

The original plan would then have moved to Phase 1C, which included other essential workers, before finally expanding to the general population.

Under that original plan, health care workers, first responders and nursing home residents were vaccinated in Phase 1A. The next phase, Phase 1B, was slated to proceed in tiers. First, residents aged 75 and older became eligible, followed by residents aged 65 to 74.

Within the next couple of weeks, the final groups of Phase 1B — frontline essential workers such as teachers and grocery store workers, as well as residents with underlying conditions such as cancer and Down syndrome — were slated to become eligible together.

The original plan would then have moved to Phase 1C, which included other essential workers, before finally expanding to the general population.

While all residents will become eligible for the vaccine in descending age order, state officials said Monday that separate clinics will be set up for educators, in an attempt to ease the traffic flow at the general vaccination sites.

Under the newly unveiled plan, the state’s entire vaccination timeline has changed as well. Under the previous plan, the state estimated that vaccinations would be open to the entire state by late summer. Now, the state estimates vaccinations will open to the general public by May 3.

The more rapid timeline appears to be due to shifting expectations of vaccine allocation from the federal government. Lamont said increased supply in the coming weeks and months will allow for a significantly faster rollout than the state had originally planned.

Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com. Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com.