The state of Connecticut will soon add more COVID-19 vaccination sites to its phone registration system, after concerns that the phone line wasn’t meeting the needs of all residents by only providing appointments at East Hartford’s Rentschler Field.
Dr. Deidre Gifford, the state’s acting public health commissioner, said at a Monday morning press briefing at the Rentschler site that in “the next couple of days” the state will add three additional sites to the call center’s roster — for a total of four sites at which residents can book vaccine appointments by phone.
“We understand that there have been some challenges in the appointment making,” Gifford said. “We’re continuing to work on those things, every single day you’re going to start to see improvements.”
Gifford also said that last week the state doubled the number of people taking calls at its central phone line, which is operated by United Way of Connecticut.
But for now, until the new sites are added, the state’s central phone line only allows callers to book appointments at Rentschler Field — which is potentially problematic for residents who live far from the site or who aren’t able to secure transportation to that particular site.
On Friday, Vernon town leaders highlighted the phone line’s shortcomings.
Vernon town administrator Michael Purcaro said he worried that elderly residents who are not technologically savvy or don’t have internet access would have to use the phone line — and therefore would only be able to make appointments in East Hartford. Purcaro also worried that residents who don’t speak English would be similarly forced to book appointments in East Hartford, because the state’s online registration system is only available in English.
State officials have acknowledged the shortcomings of the registration systems, especially the online platform the state uses, the Vaccine Administration Management System or VAMS. VAMS is not a Connecticut-specific platform — the system is operated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For instance, the state’s chief operating officer Josh Geballe said last week that the English-only setting in VAMS is “one of the many things we have on the list that we’d like to see that system improved.” And Maura Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for the state Department of Public Health, said in a statement last week that a number of things about VAMS “are short of our expectations and we share the frustrations that many have shared.”
The frustration with vaccination appointments may hit hardest right now, as the state’s oldest residents become eligible to receive the vaccine.
In recent weeks, Connecticut has moved into Phase 1B of vaccinations. That phase will eventually include more than 1.3 million people, so the state is rolling out eligibility in tiers to the different Phase 1B groups. Currently, the only eligible Phase 1B group is residents aged 75 and older (health care workers, first responders and nursing home residents, who became eligible in Phase 1A, are also still eligible to receive the vaccine).
Gov. Ned Lamont said at a Monday morning press briefing that the state may wrap up the vaccinations of residents aged 75 and older within two or three weeks.
“I think we’re going to go through the 75 and above over the next two to three weeks, so making real progress there,” Lamont said. He added that the state could be vaccinating residents even more quickly, if not for the nationwide shortage of vaccine doses.
But some, including Purcaro and other Vernon town leaders, worry that the state’s oldest residents are missing out on vaccination opportunities simply because they’re struggling to navigate the registration systems.
“The biggest barrier that we are facing right now is not the supply of vaccine locally, but the accessibility and user friendliness to the registration system that’s online and the telephone number that’s also been provided to our residents,” Purcaro said on Friday.
The state’s two central scheduling systems — VAMS and the phone line — are not the only ways for Connecticut residents to sign up for vaccination appointments. At least two health care systems, Hartford HealthCare and UConn Health, have also set up their own online registration systems. Residents can access the state’s online registration system at dphsubmissions.ct.gov/OnlineVaccine or reach the phone line at 877-918-2224 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.