Connecticut’s fleet of 35 mobile vaccination vans will begin deploying this week, Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday.

"They’re going to be widely available all over the state very soon,” Lamont said during a news conference. Right now, some of the vans allow walk-ups, but Lamont recommended trying to schedule an appointment. The vans will soon be operating on an “ice-cream-truck-type mentality,” meaning people will be able to “walk up and get a vaccine,” he added.

Lamont originally announced the outreach effort in March, when he said each van is expected to provide 160 doses of vaccine a day. By late April, the vans will have some high school and college-based clinics. The governor noted that there have been some recent “flare-ups” among the college-aged population.

On Monday afternoon, Lamont said another area of concern he is monitoring is new nursing home residents who recently moved into facilities and are not vaccinated.  

The governor’s chief operating officer, Josh Geballe, also said hospital providers have been giving priority access to the medically high-risk groups that Lamont outlined last week. Lamont said that in the past week, the state has held vaccination clinics dedicated to the developmentally disabled. 

"We’ve heard it’s gone well. Hospital providers have provided access to people with those conditions since last Thursday," Geballe said.

Lamont touched on outdoor activities such as graduations that were threatened last year by the pandemic.

“We anticipate at this point, unless something changes dramatically, that there will be outdoor parades, there will be outdoor graduations, and even indoor graduations wearing a mask if there’s inclement weather,” he said.

He later said that people would be wearing masks whether indoors or outdoors. 

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a Pfizer board member and former federal Food and Drug Administration chief, took questions during the news conference. He said masks are likely to be the last precaution to go, and that masks are clearly here to stay long-term in Connecticut.

Lamont said the state may give guidance on high school proms within the next week or so.

“If you’re going to school, you’ve got your cohort of friends, I’d like to think that we can have a nice prom this spring,” he said.

Places that attract more elderly demographics, such as restaurants before 11 p.m., retail stores, and houses of worship are open “with no plans to turn back” because a large majority of those 75 years or older have been vaccinated, Lamont said.

As for places such as bars or concert venues, Lamont said he’ll “have some guidance on that in the next couple of weeks.”

Updated virus statistics

The governor also gave an update on COVID-19 vaccination statistics including that 45% of all adults aged 16-plus have received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Of those aged 65-plus, 82% have received their first dose; 75% of the people between the ages of 55 and 64 have received their first dose; and 67% of people between the ages of 45 and 54. A total of 2,081,751 doses have been administered, with 809,663 people fully vaccinated and 1,329,149 first doses administered. 

Since Friday, 2,699 additional cases of COVID-19 were reported throughout the state, bringing the total to 316,655. More than 82,000 tests have been reported since Friday with a positivity rate of 3.28%. 

As opposed to last week, when hospitalizations were up, since Friday 15 fewer people have been hospitalized, bringing the total number of people now hospitalized in the state to 484. 

There have been 19 more deaths in the three days, bringing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths to 7,923.

New London County has 19 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19. The county has 20,938 total cases and 424 deaths. On Monday,  Lawrence + Memorial Hospital reported eight hospitalizations while Westerly Hospital reported none.

Long-term view 

Gottlieb said by the end of April, COVID-19 numbers may be trending the right way. He expects a “dramatically” different picture of where the state is in a few weeks. 

He said the fact that state residents have reengaged in a lot of activity a little earlier than they perhaps should have probably has delayed the state's recovery. He added, though, “I think we’re still going to realize that opportunity.”

Gottlieb refrained from criticizing the decision to begin reopening the state last month, saying that it was a nod to the growing number of people who want things to get back to normal. 

“Policymakers, with all due respect to the governor, end up fashioning policy that has to conform to the aspirations of people, and the aspirations of the governed,” he said.

Gottlieb spoke to the possibility of booster shots. He said the question is going to become whether that should look like an additional dose of an existing vaccine or a dose of a new variant vaccine. He said certain populations will likely need another dose heading into the fall. 

AG Tong takes action against fake vaccination cards 

On Monday, state Attorney General William Tong announced he has joined a bipartisan coalition of 45 attorneys general calling on Twitter, eBay, and Shopify to prevent people from selling fraudulent CDC vaccination cards on their platforms. 

"Getting vaccinated is one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself and your family from COVID-19, but it's also an open door for scammers," Tong said. "We need big companies like Twitter, eBay, and Shopify to take immediate action to stop the sale of fraudulent vaccination cards. These cards pose a threat to the health and safety of people in Connecticut and unchecked could extend the length and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Legitimate vaccination cards are given by providers when they administer the vaccine. Tong said people who buy fake cards can have their own information added to the card or add it in themselves, so it appears they have been vaccinated when they have not. 

s.spinella@theday.com