Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that the state would be ramping up its vaccine outreach efforts with mobile vans in April.

In a news briefing Monday, Lamont said more than 30 additional vans would be deployed in April as an extension of earlier efforts, and the expectation is for each van to provide 160 doses of the vaccine per day. 

The governor’s Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe said the mobile vaccine units are meant as a supplementary measure for the existing mobile clinics throughout the state at churches and senior housing complexes, for example. The vans will be sent out in early or mid-April and will increase activity as the month goes on. 

“This is going to be another fleet of resources we can deploy very quickly and flexibly in the next month-and-a-half to help address the remaining prioritized populations,” Geballe said. “By the time we get to the late spring, the summer, we’re going to have more vaccine than people who want to take it, so we envision these mobile units operating on almost an ice cream truck model, where you can drive through neighborhoods, you can flag them down and you can get a vaccination.”

The success of the mobile vans will depend on local partnerships, such as churches, which would notify the congregation and conduct the necessary outreach before a van is provided. 

“These vans will be in the church parking lot at the end of the service, they’ll be in other congregate settings, like housing, so we’re taking the vaccine to you to do everything we can to expand our reach,” Lamont said.

Lamont said that 36% of all adults aged 16-plus have received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of those aged 75-plus, 79% have received their first dose; 76% of people between the ages of 65 and 74, 53% among the 55-64 age group and 22% among 45-54 year-olds. With 1,587,762 doses having been administered, 584,155 people are now fully vaccinated and 1,042,185 first doses have been administered. 

Lamont noted that about 80,000 vaccination appointments have been made since Friday morning. 

“We have to continue our outreach, especially for Black and brown populations. We have some of our towns where 70% of the eligible population has been vaccinated, and in some of our cities it’s 35 or 40, so we have to do a better job of getting people vaccinated there,” Lamont said.  

Lamont addressed the ongoing efforts to vaccinate teachers and school staff as well. 

“My understanding is the vaccine has been offered to every educator in the state, the vast majority have had their shot,” he said. “I’m sure there’s still some hesitancy, as there’s been in all groups. But our experience has been once the first group has got it, and they tell their friend, ‘Hey, it’s OK, I didn’t really have many side effects, I feel a lot better, I feel liberated,’ I think you’ll find the overwhelming majority of educators will be vaccinated within a few weeks.” 

The governor was asked if vaccination outreach efforts would also focus on white Republican men, as recent polls indicate they are the most averse to getting a vaccine. 

“I’m really glad former President Trump spoke out the other day and said it’s the right thing to do. We politicized masks, we cannot politicize vaccinations,” Lamont said. “My instinct is that there may be restaurants that at some point say, ‘I only want people coming in who’ve been vaccinated. I see our first Carnival cruise — one of the cruise liners is setting sail in a week — that’s for only people who’ve been vaccinated. I think … people will realize it’s the right thing to do and get on with it.” 

Since Friday, 2,976 additional cases of COVID-19 were reported throughout the state, bringing the total to 299,667. More than 80,000 tests have been reported since Friday for a total of 7,399,806. The positivity rate during that period was 3.59%. 

Lamont said he was encouraged by the fact that 13 fewer people have been hospitalized since Friday, calling the number of hospitalizations and the number of deaths the "key metrics" he's focused on. A total of 389 people are currently hospitalized. There have been nine more deaths during the past three days, making for 7,841 total deaths related to COVID-19. 

Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London reported Monday that it had eight COVID-19 patients while Westerly Hospital had one.

Geballe said that the B.1.1.7. coronavirus variant could become the dominant strain in Connecticut in late March or in April.

"We’re working a lot with our colleagues at the Yale School of Public Health, and they’re doing a lot of sequencing and analysis,” Geballe said. “They estimate we’re in the range of 30-40% of the cases in the state right now are the B.1.1.7. variant.”

s.spinella@theday.com