All Connecticut residents ages 16 and over will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by April 5, according to Governor Lamont.

Lamont announces acceleration in Connecticut vaccine rollout

Lea Rivel '22, Social Media Director

Connecticut residents 45 and up will become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccinations starting this Friday, and ages 16 and up beginning on April 5, Governor Ned Lamont said on Monday, March 15 in a press release.

“We have some of the best and most dedicated providers in Connecticut who have been working around-the-clock to create the infrastructure that will provide vaccines to as many residents as we can as quickly as possible,” Governor Lamont said in the press release. “Based on our discussions with the federal government regarding vaccine allocation, we anticipate receiving more than 200,000 first doses per week by early April.”

This announcement is a major acceleration in Connecticut’s vaccination rollout plan. The original age-based eligibility system set the target date for adults between 16 and 34 as sometime in May.

“I’m hoping that people ages 16 and older will actually take advantage of the opportunity to get the vaccine,” Sarah Thomas ’22 said, “because it will make a huge impact in terms of the pandemic subsiding.”

Individuals who are currently eligible to receive the vaccine include all individuals age 55 and older, healthcare personnel, medical first responders, residents and staff of long-term care facilities, residents and staff of select congregate settings and PreK-12 school staff and professional childcare providers.

According to Lamont, it’s still going to take some time to get the vaccine to everyone who wants it and we need to be patient to the greatest extent possible, but over the next few weeks, it is anticipated that the amount of vaccine administered each day will greatly increase.

“I think we might be able to have more gatherings and feel safer over the next couple of months,” Anooshka Sethi ’21 said, “[even though] we definitely still need to be careful, wear masks, and not have big gatherings. But I’m definitely hopeful.”

Connecticut continues to rank among the top five states in the nation in the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated.