VERNON, Conn. — Connecticut ranks 4th best in the nation in terms of the percentage of the population that has gotten vaccinated, but some communities are also reporting problems with access.
The North Central Health District is running a COVID vaccine clinic at the senior center in Vernon. They had 240 appointment slots on Friday, but only 93 people were able to sign up through VAMS. Vernon says it’s not due to a lack of demand, but rather a lack of a functioning system.
The town of Vernon is the first to publicly rebuke the state for its execution of the Phase 1B vaccine rollout. Michael Purcaro, the Vernon town manager said seniors are, "Frustrated, angry and are confused by the ineffectiveness of this registration system that’s been put out by the state and the federal government."
The state says the biggest problem is vaccine supply. "There’s one choke point, we need more vaccines," Gov. Lamont said on Thursday. Vernon rebuts that. "The biggest barrier that we are facing right now is not the supply of vaccine locally but the accessibility and user-friendliness of the registration system that’s online and the telephone that’s also been provided to our residents," remarked Puraco.
Vernon says they’ve had to circumvent the state hotline and VAMS system to get people signed up manually. They've established their own call center and have been performing direct outreach to senior housing complexes in the community.
FOX61 asked seniors if they could figure out how to book an appointment on their own. Alan Abatayo of Vernon said, "Probably not, I hadn’t read any fine print about how some of the other towns had done things." Gina DePasquale of Manchester had to help her grandmother book an appointment. "Personally, I don’t know that I would have recommended for my grandmother to do it herself."
The state acknowledges that their phone hotline isn’t perfect. For one, it only books appointments at Rentschler Field. "We have been working with providers across the state to add appointment slots to the group answering the call center line so they can start booking people into other parts of the state as well so that’s happening as we speak," said Josh Geballe, Connecticut's Chief Operating Officer.
The online VAMS system is a federal portal that is not run by the state. But the state says they’ve been relaying feedback about its lack of access for people who speak other languages. "It is a known shortcoming of that system and it is one of the reasons why we prioritized getting that call center set up through the 211 team they have multi-lingual support," said Geballe.
The state says they are continuing to improve access as they go, but many seniors are frustrated and confused. The state asked for patience. We are getting about 50,000 doses a week. "Could I use five times that amount? Absolutely. Do I hear from hospitals every day give me more? Absolutely," remarked Gov. Lamont.
The state just got an extra 50,000 doses for being one of the top five vaccinating states in the country, and if the Johnson & Johnson vaccine gets approved in the next few weeks, it could dramatically speed up the rate of vaccination.
“We stand in unity with Governor Lamont and President Biden in getting the vaccine out as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Purcaro said at Friday’s briefing. “Like President Biden said yesterday in his national COVID response plan remarks, we are moving heaven and earth here in Vernon to get the vaccine into the arms of eligible recipients."