By Cathy Iino, Killingworth First Selectman.
Hello, Killingworth–
Our town and our state are both seeing good downward COVID trends. Killingworth’s biweekly rate of infection is 34.8 cases per 100,000 people, less than half what it was three weeks ago. The rate for Middlesex County is 46.2, and the rate for Connecticut as a whole is 53.5.
According to state data, 11.6 percent of our 6,400 residents, and 60.4 percent of our residents 75 years old and older, have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. I have some doubts about the percentage for the 75+ age group, because I think the total number of our residents in that age group is higher than the number the state is using. In any case, we are making progress.
Anyone 75 and older should make an appointment now, if they haven’t already, before the state opens the vaccination program to a wider group of people.
If you have a MyChart account through your healthcare provider, you can use that to make an appointment.
The statewide VAMS system for making appointments on line has been difficult to use, but many people have managed to find appointments through it. If you use the VAMS system, look for the nearby Old Saybrook location, where the Connecticut River Area Health District is conducting vaccination clinics on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. That location does not always appear automatically when you search for locations near Killingworth.
If you prefer not to use the VAMS system, you may call Connecticut’s COVID Vaccine Appointment Assistance Line at 877-918-2224. The line is open seven days a week, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. The phone wait times have been long, but the state has added a large number of staff. You can leave your number for a callback in the same order your call was received, so that you do not have to stay on hold. You can now make appointments by phone in Middletown as well as several other locations.
And here’s a new option: Nine CVS Pharmacies in the state, including the Guilford and Middletown branches, will be scheduling vaccinations beginning Wednesday, February 10th. Appointments can be made beginning on the 10th at cvs.com or by calling CVS at 800-746-7287 or 888-300-4419. You may contact them as soon as you are eligible; right now, you are eligible if you are a health care worker or are 75 year old and over. Going to the website will be the fastest method, as these telephone lines are not dedicated to vaccination registration. Appointments will be booked out 7 days, and second dose appointment will be made when the initial dose is given.
If you are under 75 and you know someone who is older, please offer to help them, or let them know they can call the Killingworth Town Hall COVID-19 vaccine information line at 860-663-1765, x220. Our Health Department will return calls; please be sure to say your phone number clearly.
Stay safe and carry on.
Cathy
