Only 36% of residents 75 and older in five of Connecticut’s largest cities have received their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s less than the statewide average of 52%.
Benjamin Bechtolsheim is the director of the state’s COVID-19 program. He said they are reaching out to vulnerable communities to close the gap.
“From an equity perspective, it’s not just about where the site of administration is. It’s also about how are patients then connected to that site. How are they able to get there? How are they informed thatis it available to them? By what technologies or other means do they schedule their appointments?” he said.
He said the state has also partnered with Griffin Hospital to reach out to Black and Latinx communities in the Naugatuck Valley and Bristol Hospital and the NAACP in the New Britain area.
