As COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to rise statewide, state and town officials are preparing for the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. New Haven County is the second-highest county for total case rate per 100,000 with 4,165 cases per 100,000, behind Fairfield County, which has 4,766 cases per 100,000 as of Dec. 9.

Since the onset of the virus, North Haven has seen 854 total cases with 29 deaths as of Dec. 9. During the last two weeks in November— Nov. 15 to 28—there were 151 new confirmed cases reported for a 45.5 cases per 100,000 rate.

The Quinnipiack Valley Health District (QVHD), state Department of Public Health (DPH), and federal Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) are providing guidance for local rollout of the vaccine

“I’m working with QVHD on a daily basis and I’m in regular contact with ...DPH. My role has focused on the logistics associated with vaccinating essential personnel and all town residents,” said North Haven Fire Chief Paul Januszewski, who is also the town’s Emergency Management Director. “Throughout this crisis, I’ve remained in contact with our senior housing facilities, healthcare facilities, and urgent care centers to work collectively on identifying needs, which has helped shape the vaccination plan.”

During the early stages of COVID-19, Operation Warp Speed was formed as a partnership among components of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and the Department of Defense. The goal of Operation Warp Speed was “to accelerate development while maintaining standards for safety and efficacy.”

According to the CDC’s website www.cdc.gov, there are five companies—AstraZeneca, Janssen, Moderna, Noravax, and Pfizer—that are among those developing COVID-19 vaccines in the United States. All but one of the vaccines in development require two doses, while one vaccine requires one dose.

The DPH informed local health departments that the first vaccines are expected to arrive in the area the third week in December. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended that the initial phase of vaccines will be offered to healthcare personnel and residents of long-term care facilities.

“COVID-19 mass vaccination planning is underway for those identified as the critical workforce for phase 1 and 2,” said QVHD Director of Health Karen A. Wolujewicz. “In the initial phases, COVID-19 vaccine may be limited. Vaccination providers will be able to provide COVID-19 vaccine to identified specific populations.”

The CDC released its second version of the COVID-19 Vaccination Interim Playbook for Jurisdiction Operations in a 75-page document on its website, detailing the approach to the vaccination process.

“With the cooperation of QVHD, we’ve identified a primary and secondary site for mass vaccinations within the Town of North Haven for the first wave of vaccinations, which will include all critical workforce personnel,” said Januszewski. “Subsequent waves of vaccines will be administered at the same locations. We’ve worked to identify the needs associated with providing vaccinations including traffic patterns, lighting, shelter/heating, WiFi, personnel, etc. I also continue to work with the Board of Education and the superintendent of schools on plans to ensure student safety while attending school.”

QVHD, which serves North Haven, Hamden, Bethany, and Woodbridge, is seeking volunteers for its Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) unit, which is a “national group of volunteers engaging their communities to strengthen public health, build resilience, and improve local preparedness, response, and recovery capabilities through events, free trainings, and drills.”

The MRC is seeking both medical and non-medical volunteers for the upcoming vaccine distribution. Medical volunteers will be responsible for vaccinating the critical workforce when the vaccine becomes available, while non-medical volunteers will assist in the process. To register, visit www.ctresponds.ct.gov or email vfedak@qvhd.org.

The CDC website reiterates that there are many unknowns, including whether those who have had the virus will need the vaccine, the numbers needed to reach herd immunity, and whether there will be changes in the recommendations on mask-wearing or social distancing.

Tools for reporting possible side effects have been created, including an online reporting system called Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (www.vaers.hhs.gov) as well as post-vaccination check-in app for smartphones called v-safe.

Updates and information about the vaccine will be shared by the CDC, state DPH, and local health departments through press releases, social media, postings to websites, and more.

“At this point I would encourage town residents to conduct their own research to decide if a COVID vaccination is of interest to them,” said Januszewski. “I would anticipate vaccinations to be available to the general public within the next six to eight weeks.”

Within North Haven Public Schools, there have been 64 positive cases—46 students and 18 staff—so far in this school year, one of which was directly traced to in-school transmission. Superintendent of Schools Patrick Stirk explained that cases of those present in school while potentially infected are reported to the community, but the district does not report out cases that were not in the building during their infectious times.

Those cases are still contact traced by QVHD and the state contact tracing team when notified by the testing laboratories and do appear in the town’s reported numbers.

“We do make an extra effort to communicate privately to families of students who have been exposed outside of school if it is brought to our attention—for example, if a student attended a party with an infected person, and that person reports back to us that they were with one of our students,” said Stirk. “This is handled officially by QVHD and the state contact tracing team, however, we maintain our due diligence to act upon this information when it is provided to us.”

Resources:

www.cdc.gov/coronavirus

portal.ct.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-data-tracker

uwc.211ct.org/covid-19-testing-sites/