COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics Open in Greenwich

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By Richard Kaufman

First Selectman Fred Camillo and Greenwich Hospital President Diane Kelly held their weekly COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, as the massive vaccination campaign continues around the state and the country.

In Greenwich, vaccination clinics opened up this week in the Eastern, Central and Western parts of town, serving those who are aged 75 or over as part of Phase 1B.

The Health Department is offering vaccines on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at Town Hall, and Greenwich Hospital has a daily clinic at the Brunswick School King Street campus, in addition to its Northeast Medical Group location at 500 W. Putnam Ave. Family Centers is also giving shots at the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center.

Both Kelly and Camillo said that the clinics are going well so far, despite the widespread shortage of doses.

“People are being so grateful and so calm. People are waiting their turn; people are maintaining social distancing. Everything is going smoothly. We’re working closely with the state on getting our allocation [of vaccines]. I know they’re working hard to make this as equitable as they can,” Kelly said.

Camillo said the town is aware of people coming in from out of state to try and get appointments. He mentioned that 15 people from New York and New Jersey were turned away from Town Hall on Tuesday.

“People are always going to try and skirt the rules. We’re keeping an eye on it as best we can, and we’re aware of it,” Camillo said. “We’re trying our best to ensure that Connecticut residents receive the vaccine.”

Camillo noted that he has received a few phone calls from people who were concerned that their second vaccination appointments had been cancelled because of a lack of supply. Both Pfizer and Moderna are two-dose vaccinations — one dose separated by 21 days and 28 days, respectively. Camillo hopes that as time goes on, supply will meet demand and eventually exceed it.

If you are eligible and want to make a reservation online, you may register using the Yale New Haven Health website at ynhhs.org/covidvaccine, or the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS) via the state Department of Public Health dphsubmissions.ct.gov/onlinevaccine.

For those who do not have Internet access, information and reservations may be obtained by calling the Yale New Haven Health COVID hotline, at 1-833-275-9644, Greenwich’s Commission on Aging, at 203-862-6710, or the Greenwich Health Department, at 203-622-7703, 203-622-7842, 203-622-7836, 203-622-7865 or 203-622-7614.

For seniors who need a ride to a vaccination clinic, the Transportation Association of Greenwich (TAG) is available. You can either call 203-637-4345 or email at debbie@ridetag.org to make a reservation. The cost is $6 round trip.

TAG follows CDC guidelines, taking temperatures, wearing masks and recently installed shields between the seats for added protection.

Latest COVID Numbers

COVID numbers in Greenwich have remained steady. As of Tuesday, Jan. 26 the town saw an increase of 166 cases since last week — bringing the total number of Greenwich residents who have tested positive since the pandemic began to 3,223.

Active cases are up 26 since last week to 189. A silver lining, Camillo said, was that the town reported no deaths in the past week.

In the state of Connecticut as a whole as of Wednesday, positive cases increased by 12,680 to 244,899 over the past week. Hospitalizations dropped by 73, however, to 1,068.

At Greenwich Hospital, as of Wednesday, there were 39 patients being treated in-house.

“We are continuing to see that we are staying at a plateau of our inpatient patients,” Kelly said. “We have about seven to eight patients planned for discharge [on Wednesday]. That seems to be our trend. As many as we are discharging, we seem to be getting new patients.”

Kelly said that it’s extremely important for people to continue to wear their masks and practice good hand hygiene and social distancing.

“I know people are very tired at this point in time, but we still have not vaccinated enough people in our population that we should be letting up in any way shape or form,” she said.

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