Vaccinations

Cases of the respiratory virus RSV have surged in Connecticut since November. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is demanding that manufacturers produce vaccines more quickly and at an affordable price.

With the flu, RSV and COVID-19 spreading like wildfire in cold winter months, Dr. Dwayne Breining, the executive director at Northwell Health Labs, shares how vaccinations are key to combating a “tripledemic.”

The Connecticut Department of Public Health confirmed the first influenza and RSV-related deaths of the season, and remind residents to get vaccinated.

Connecticut lawmakers and CDC Director Mandy Cohen are encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine, as short supply and insurance coverage issues get resolved.

The first Connecticut child has died from the flu this season, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health confirmed the first flu death of the year amid one of the earliest and most severe flu seasons in recent years.

New York has expanded the criteria residents need to receive the monkeypox vaccine.

Health officials in New York and Connecticut are urging local communities to make sure they are up to date on their polio vaccinations before the school year begins. In late July, a person tested positive in Rockland County.

Governor Kathy Hochul said COVID-19 rules will be eased for New York’s schoolchildren this year and masks and social distancing will no longer be required. The governor and state health officials also gave an update on the spread of monkeypox, which for the first time has infected a child.

There are now 57 confirmed cases of monkeypox in Connecticut, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.