With just under 90 percent of seniors age 75 and older receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, town officials are saying the effort to inoculate Guilford residents, which includes offering transportation services, tech help, and all-day weekly clinics every Monday at the Community Center, has so far been relatively smooth and successful, characterized by hard work and flexibility by staff, as the state begins moving into the next phase.

Though eligibility and appointments are handled by the state, in Connecticut it has mostly fallen on municipalities and regional health districts to actually get vaccine shots to residents, with a massive nation-wide effort to begin beating back the pandemic this year.

With seniors aged 65 and older along with certain health care workers currently eligible as part of Phase 1b, First Selectman Matt Hoey said that locally the town is handling demand and finding ways to get the vaccine to those who want it.

“We have enough vaccinators there to do even more vaccinations, quite honestly,” he said. “Having those resources available for the community is such a great thing.”

Parks & Recreation Director Rick Maynard called the clinics “very much a multi-team project,” with nurses brought in regionally, and Guilford EMS, health department, and police officers taking up various roles to make sure residents are able to get shots as soon as possible. The effort is likely to expand significantly in the coming weeks, he said, with the Feb. 22 clinic planning to almost double the number of administered doses as many get their second shots.

Additionally, the vaccination process is expanding outside the community center, as CVS Pharmacy has made “significant modifications” to its store, according to Hoey, with the town being one of 11 initial pharmacy locations statewide to begin offering the vaccine. The first shots were administered at the CVS late last week, Hoey said, though the CVS website said that all Guilford appointments were “fully booked” as of Feb. 15.

Maynard said that Guilford’s available appointments are also being snapped up, with some clinics filling up in less than five minutes after being made available in the online system.

The CVS vaccines are on a separate system and from separate supply than what has been made available so far in the state, according to Hoey. The Community Center will continue offering vaccines as long as there is a need and doses available. Both Hoey and Senior Services Director Terry Holland-Buckley described the town as being in good shape, though availability will depend on doses arriving in town as well eligibility, which is likely to ramp up into the spring.

“Right now staff has been manning the clinics, but the goal is certainly to have some volunteers in there, too,” Holland-Buckley said.

Holland-Buckley said her staff has helped at least 75 seniors sign up for appointments through the state’s online system, and have provided transportation to Guilford residents to clinics as far away as West Haven, for people who are unable to book a vaccination in town. The library is also providing informal assistance for vaccine sign-ups, she said.

Clinics themselves at the Community Center have been characterized by flexibility. One resident who was not able to get out of his car received the vaccine in the parking lot, with medical staff braving the blistering cold for the 15-minute observation period that is mandatory for vaccine recipients. Holland-Buckley said another woman who had to wait longer than expected asked staff to let her husband, who was waiting in the car, know that everything was alright.

“I was running around the parking lot trying to find the car,” she laughed. “It’s the little things like that...I’m sure if anybody comes here and they have some special need and they just ask, it will be accommodated.”

More flexibility was needed (and provided) when a snowstorm forced the cancellation of one clinic late in January. Hoey said the town was able to work with the East Shore Regional Health District and Connecticut Hospice in Branford to make sure the majority of people who had appointments in Guilford were still able to get vaccinated, without holding up the line.

“We were able to migrate the folks who were canceled on that Monday...which then enabled to re-open our clinic to accommodate another full 80 or 90 doses being administered,” Hoey said.

He thanked Connecticut Hospice Executive Director Barbara Pearce and that organization’s staff for being “terrific” in providing support for the town, not just for large events like this, but in working generally to make sure the Guilford population has help getting the vaccine.

As the state increases the eligible pool (a process over which the town has no control) there will likely be a greater need for help at the weekly clinics, according to Holland-Buckley. She said she has personally been working weekends to stay caught up on regular work, as she and other staff have dedicated large amounts of time to vaccine-related tasks every Monday during the clinics, as well as throughout the week.

“If we had volunteers, that would free up staff to be able to continue to help the seniors in here,” she said. “The goal moving forward is to have some volunteers each week help the staff.”

Regardless of the challenges, and with the effort to get the vaccine to as many people as want it likely to stretch into the summer and beyond, Hoey and Holland-Buckley both expressed optimism that Guilford would be able to make it happen locally.

“Especially here...it’s little things that Guilford will always do, if somebody needs some help,” Holland-Buckley said.

Volunteers who want to help with the vaccination effort can sign up at effortctresponds.ct.gov. Anyone aged 65 or old who needs help registering for a vaccine can call the Community Center at 203-453-8068. For information about the state’s Vaccine Administration Management System, visit portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus.