NEW HAVEN, Conn — State officials say they have noticed an uptick in vaccinations in recent weeks and the transmissibility of the Delta variant is the primary reason. So, for now, Gov. Ned Lamont is not issuing masking or vaccine mandates at the state level just.
"Frankly, I think municipalities, I think superintendents, I think business owners and restaurant owners are in a good position to say maybe some we will be vaccine only and some of them will say I’d like to see that you’ve been tested," said Gov. Lamont during an event at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton.
The Governor's still leaving it up to businesses because Connecticut is among the nationwide leaders in vaccinations.
"We’ve got 75% of our adults vaccinated," Lamont noted. "We have 90% of those who are most at risk, those are the folks over the age of 60 to 65 who are now vaccinated."
Some say they won't be vaccinated because they were told they wouldn't have to be masked if they did take the jab. But, health officials say the virus has changed.
"You have a huge benefit from being vaccinated, which is you are highly unlikely to get sick or to die from Covid," said Dr. Deidre Gifford, Acting Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
One of the roadblocks to a high vaccination rate is the fact that the Federal Drug Administration has not yet issued full approval for any of the COVID vaccines.
"They’re not gonna be rushed, but I am told it’ll be very, very soon," Gov. Lamont said, adding that would likely mean a month or so.
To avoid what happened with high school sports last fall, both the DPH and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), which is high school sports governing body, want student-athletes to get vaccinated
"But we are not anticipating any limitations on the fall sports season," Dr. Gifford said. "We want that to go ahead. That’s why I want all the student-athletes, who can get vaccinated."
Yale-New Haven Health, across its five hospitals, was treating 52 patients for COVID as of Monday. Compare that to April 24, 2020, when the YNHH system was treating nearly 800 COVID patients.
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