Connecticut opens centralized COVID-19 vaccination website and phone line to residents who are 75 and older
Connecticut residents who are 75 and older can now schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment on the state’s central registration website or phone line, both of which opened up on Thursday.
For now, vaccination appointments are only opening up to residents who are 75 and older. It is not yet clear when the other groups in Phase 1B, which Gov. Ned Lamont formally expanded on Thursday, will become eligible to make appointments or receive the vaccine.
The online portal — which can be accessed at https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/COVID-19-Vaccination---75-and-older — allows eligible residents to book appointments at a variety of locations, including local health departments, Bristol Hospital, Stamford Hospital and Trinity Health of New England hospitals such as Hartford’s Saint Francis.
The portal also includes links to the separate appointment booking websites of two health care systems, Hartford HealthCare and UConn Health. Those separate websites have been up and running since Wednesday.
Residents who are 75 and older will need to have an email address in order to schedule an appointment online, and will also be required to provide basic information such as their date of birth.
Residents who are not able to book appointments online can instead call the state’s central phone line, which will take calls from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays. That line can be reached at 877-918-2224.
For both scheduling systems, the state includes a note that scheduling may take some time.
“I must continue to urge patience at this point in time,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a Thursday release. “We know many people are excited to receive the vaccine and the promise of the future that comes with it, but we are limited in our ability to distribute them purely based on the amount we receive from the federal government.”
Lamont on Thursday formally approved an expansion of Phase 1B, so that the phase will now include more than 1.3 million people. (Previous state estimates put that number at more than 1.5 million, but state officials say the new estimate is more accurate.)
However, not everyone in Phase 1B will become eligible for the vaccine at the same time. The state is further stratifying the Phase 1B groups and opening up vaccinations to some groups before other groups.
So far, Connecticut officials have only said that residents who are 75 and older are the first in line for Phase 1B — officials have not said which group will be eligible next, or when that eligibility will begin.
Phase 1B includes:
Residents who are 65 and older
Frontline essential workers (including teachers)
Residents of congregate settings (including group homes and prisons)
Residents who have at least one high-risk co-morbid condition, as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.
