Weekly Covid-19 Update: Additional Death in Greenwich; Fewest Patients across Yale New Haven Health System Since November

During the weekly Wednesday press conference with Greenwich Hospital and Select woman Lauren Rabin filled in for First Selectmen Fred Camillo.

She said the total number of cases of Covid-19 in Greenwich was 3,644, which reflected an increase of 244 over last week.

The town’s active cases were 227, which was an increase of 52 over last week.

Deaths of Greenwich residents were up to 81. One Greenwich resident died this past week.

The town’s rate per 100,000 is 50.2, which is an increase of 10.8 over last week.

Ms Rabin said as of Tuesday 55.1% of Greenwich residents age 75+ had received at least their first of the two doses of the vaccination.

Starting Friday, Feb 11, residents 65+ will start to register to receive their vaccinations.

Connecticut has around 350,000 residents aged 65-74.

Officials estimate that it will take about four weeks to provide access to all residents in that age group. The State also warned that wait times on the phone are expected to increase. Governor Lamont has asked for residents to be patient.

Greenwich Hospital’s Diane Kelly said the hospital was treating 35 Covid-19 patients as of Wednesday. Three of the five patients in the ICU were on ventilators.

“This continues to be a very serious illness we are battling,” she said. “We hope everyone is considering getting their vaccination.”

Kelly said there were 293 patients across the five hospitals in the Yale New Haven Health System, and that number was significant because the System had not had fewer than 300 patients since November.

“This is a good sign,” she said. However, she added, “We are at a little bit of a risk – people letting go of their guard as more of our citizens are getting vaccinations. We want to make sure everybody knows we have a long way to go as a society.”

Residents eligible for vaccination should go through either the VAMS programs for the town’s vaccinations sites or through the Yale New Haven Health System sites to schedule appointments.

“The limiting factor is we are prepared to increase the amount of people we can see,” Ms Kelly continued.

“Whenever we have the vaccine, we are giving the vaccine. We have no wasted doses. We are prepared to go up to 1,000 people a day – all depends on the availability of the vaccine.”
Diane Kelly, President of Greenwich Hospital

Ms Rabin said vaccinations were going smoothly at the Town of Greenwich vaccination sites, and that canceled appointments did not result in wasted doses.

Instead she said, the town was contacting people scheduled for the following day to come in a day earlier.

Ms Kelly said her understanding was that additional doses were on their way to Connecticut, and that the Health System’s processes were set up so that no vaccines were wasted.

“It’s quite humbling and a great honor,” she said. “This is something we have absolutely not seen in our lifetime. To be part of a system that is standing up a mass vaccination effort to literally save lives is humbling and rewarding.

All eligible residents are required to make an appointment in advance of receiving the vaccine. To find available vaccination clinics throughout the state, residents can visit ct.gov/covidvaccine and enter their zip code.

Appointments can be made utilizing the following tools:

VAMS online system: VAMS is the Vaccine Administration Management System and can be used to schedule appointments at multiple clinics across the state. To make an appointment using this system, click here.
Call Connecticut’s COVID-19 Vaccine Appointment Assist Line: Connecticut’s COVID-19 vaccine appointment assist line is open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., seven days a week. To make an appointment, call 877-918-2224.
Hartford HealthCare: Hartford HealthCare has multiple locations throughout the state, including large clinics in the Hartford area. To make an appointment using this system, click here.
Yale New Haven Health: Yale New Haven Hospital has multiple locations throughout the state, including large clinics in the New Haven area. To make an appointment using this system, click here.
Stamford Health: Stamford Health is operating a clinic seven days per week at Stamford Hospital. To make an appointment using this system, click here.
Walgreens: Walgreens is currently offering the vaccine at 12 different locations and will soon be adding many more across the state. To make an appointment using this system, click here.
CVS: CVS is currently offering the vaccine in four locations (Colchester, Putnam, Waterford, and Windsor Locks) and will be expanding to 12 more locations in the next week. To make an appointment using this system, click here.
Walmart: Walmart will be offering the vaccine at seven locations across the state (Hartford, New Haven, North Windham, Norwalk, Torrington, Waterbury, and West Haven). To make an appointment using this system, click here.