Connecticut Expands Coronavirus Vaccination to 12-15 Year-Olds

CONNECTICUT — The state has expanded its coronavirus vaccine rollout to include residents in Connecticut between the ages of 12 to 15 at all clinics in the state that are offering that vaccine.

The expansion of Connecticut's vaccine program follows on the heels of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to recommending the vaccine for this age group Wednesday afternoon.

Parents and legal guardians of roughly 170,000 Connecticut residents between the ages of 12 to 15 can now sign their children up for an appointment or visit one of the many clinics that are accepting walk-up patients.

Parents and guardians are urged to note that only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for this younger age group, so they should only seek clinics that are offering this particular vaccine. Children between the ages of 12 and 15 can be vaccinated at any clinic that is offering the Pfizer vaccine, as long as they are accompanied by or have the consent of their parent or legal guardian.

Vaccine providers offering the Pfizer vaccine include many pharmacies (including many CVS, Walgreens and RiteAid locations), the state's mass drive-through vaccination sites run in partnership with CHC Inc, as well as many hospital locations (including Bristol Hospital, Day Kimball, Griffin, Hartford Healthcare, Middlesex, Trinity Health of New England, Waterbury, and Yale New Haven).

The state Department of Public Health anticipates working with local health and school districts to stand up clinics in schools and summer youth programs, similar to what was done when the vaccine program expanded to include 16 and 17-year-olds, according to Connecticut Acting Public Health Commissioner Deidre Gifford. Parents can expect communications from participating school districts or can reach out to their school districts to inquire about available school-sponsored clinics.

Most pediatrician offices will not yet have the Pfizer vaccine available for patients. Pfizer’s minimum order size of 1,170 doses and its maximum storage time in a regular freezer of 14 days makes it difficult for individual pediatric offices to provide the vaccine to their patients.

As of Tuesday, more than 71 percent of Connecticut residents over the age of 18 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 56 percent are fully vaccinated, the highest rate in the nation.

Hospitalizations and the positivity rate both dropped in the latest set of daily coronavirus numbers provided by the state Department of Public Health.

An additional 187 cases of the coronavirus were confirmed Tuesday in the state, bringing that total to 3344,141. With 17,891 tests reported, the daily positivity rate now sits at 1.05 percent, the lowest it's been since the beginning of October.

Reported hospitalizations dropped by 28 beds overnight, according to the state Department of Public Health. That brings the number of those hospitalized with the virus to 243.

Coronavirus-associated deaths across the state rose by five on Tuesday. The COVID-19 death toll in Connecticut now stands at 8,161.

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