Fair Haven Community Health's Mass Vaccine Clinic Underway

NEW HAVEN, CT — Before the end of the day, more than 300 will have been vaccinated against COVID-19 at the just-opened mass vaccine clinic held by Fair Haven Community Health Care at Wilbur Cross High School Wednesday.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker held a press conference at the site where he praised Fair Haven Health and in particular its director Dr. Suzanne Legarde.

"Dr. Legarde and her team have been working tirelessly first on testing and expanding our capacity to do testing all around the city and now with vaccines, I think it's pretty incredible. We're going to do over 300 vaccinations today," he said.

Elicker also noted that the New Haven Health Department, as of Wednesday morning, had administered more than 8,300 vaccines. And also beginning Wednesday, he said, vaccines will be given to educational staff. There are 14 vaccine sites around New Haven, Elicker said, at schools and other locations where teachers and school staff will be vaccinated.

Reporter's Notebook

It was serendipitous that a reporter had an appointment for the Moderna vaccine provided by Fair Haven Community Health at the same time of Elicker's press conference.

The vaccination experience was, in a word, painless.

While difficult to get an appointment Monday when the new age eligibility of 55 and older came online, it was not difficult to make an appointment through Fair Haven Community Health. A brief-ish hold on the phone Monday resulted in an appointment for Wednesday morning. Learn more about that process here.

Once checked in, showing ID and insurance card, was directed to a station where a health care worker named Laurel checked paperwork and after a few questions about possible medical issues, she administered the Moderna vaccine. It was a painless and very quick experience.

Next, a 15-minute wait to make sure there were no immediate reactions, of which there were none, and no pain at injection site. Checking out, a Connecticut National Guard member provided a card for the second dose, on March 31.