REGIONAL

With cases of the new coronavirus variant BA.2.86 rising across the East Shore District Health Department’s (ESDHD) coverage area, the department has established its plans to keep residents of East Haven, Branford, and North Branford safe and prepared.

The department has made available the recently approved Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine boosters. They encourage everyone starting at five years of age to receive a single dose of a booster, regardless of their vaccination status.

“If you’ve received a vaccine lately, they recommend you wait two months after your last vaccination with COVID,” said Barbara Naclerio, public health educator with the ESDHD. “If you’ve been sick, you can wait up to about three months, but it’s okay if you go earlier. As long as you’re not sick when you actually go to the vaccine.”

Boosters will still be free for those who have private insurance or coverage through Medicare or Medicaid. Under federal law, those without insurance or who are underinsured will still be able to receive a dose of the vaccine through a bridge program with the federal government in which the department is participating, said Nalcerio.

“We’ve also called up our volunteers, our Shoreline Medical Reserve Corps volunteers, who are many of the people who helped out when the big clinics were going on when we first had a vaccine,” Naclerio said.

Naclerio said the department strongly recommends that people receive a booster, given the rise in cases and hospitalization across the state. Naclerio said that while the BA.2.86 variant may seem like a “less disease” compared to previous variants of the virus, she added that, “anybody who’s immunocompromised or any older adults, it can be very dangerous for again.”

Although the effects of the variant don’t “seem to be making people more sick or less sick,” Naclerio also said that it is still highly transmissible.

The guidelines for those who have contracted the variant are the same as prior variants of the virus.

“If you come up positive for COVID, or you’re sick with COVID, stay home for at least five days,” Naclerio said. “When you go back to work or back out in the world, it’s recommended to wear a mask for five more days because you still can spread it.”

Even with federal and state lockdown procedures and practices no longer in effect in Connecticut or throughout the country, Naclero said it is important that residents still take the new variant seriously.

“Just because people aren’t talking about it doesn’t mean it stopped being a problem,” said Naclerio.

In order to be fully prepared for the season, Naclerio encourages district residents to receive flu shots alongside COVID vaccines. Having masks and at-home COVID test kits are also recommended.

The ESDHD will also establish a system with schools in East Haven, Branford, and North Branford to report figures on cases among the student bodies.

“What we do is we work with the school nurses and ask them to tell us weekly how many cases. We don’t ask names; we don’t ask any personal information at all. We’re just looking to keep an eye on how much disease is out there,” said Naclerio.

The ESDHD will have several vaccine clinics established through the month of October:

Oct. 4: 4 East Shore District Health Dept. 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Oct 11 and 12: East Haven Senior Center 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Oct. 16: Canoe Brook/Branford Community House 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Oct. 23: East Shore District Health Dept 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Oct. 26: East Shore District Health Dept 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Oct. 27: Stanley T. Williams North Branford Senior Center 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For an appointment at the department’s clinic at 688 E Main Street, Branford, call 203-481-4233. Sites for other clinics in the area can be located at vaccines.gov.