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MERIDEN — As the city enters its third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than three-fourths of the local Hispanic population in Meriden and surrounding areas is vaccinated.
Almost 80% of the Hispanic population in Meriden was fully vaccinated as of Nov. 9, according to the city of Meriden’s weekly COVID-19 report. The report shows 76% of those identifying as Asian or Pacific Islander were fully vaccinated followed by Blacks at 66.5% and whites with 62%. In addition, 85% of the Hispanic population received at least one dose of the vaccine, the report showed.
Lea Crown, Meriden health and human services director, explained that the department received a vaccine equity grant in the summer of 2021. This grant allowed the department in Meriden to provide funding to work with their community partners like the Salvation Army, Casa Boricua de Meriden and New Opportunities of Greater Meriden as administrators for the vaccine.
“We utilized our community partners and provided funding to actually go out and use them as trusted messengers in order to increase the vaccination rates among our Hispanic and African American populations,” Crown said.
The department identified certain areas in Meriden where there were low vaccination rates, and worked with the Community Health Center of Meriden to go into those neighborhoods and provide the vaccine, she added.
“We went out to where the people were,” Crown said. “ Instead of having everybody come to either us or the hospital or the federally qualified Health Center on State Street in order to get the vaccine, we were at the summer lunch sites in Meriden. We were at churches. We were at the park. We were at the soccer game encouraging people to get vaccinated.”
Griffin Hospital and the state Department of Public Health hosted a free vaccination clinic at the Spanish Community of Wallingford (SCOW) every Wednesday from Nov. 2 to Nov. 16 and on Saturday, Nov. 12.
Myra Odenwaelder, assistant vice president of therapeutic services at Griffin Hospital, said it’s important to continue getting the COVID-19 boosters because, eventually, immunity wears off.
“Evidence certainly points towards vaccines being safe and effective and reducing the risk of getting and spreading COVID; vaccines also lower the risk of serious illness,” Odenwaelder said. “While they may not prevent us from getting COVID entirely, they will definitely lower the risk of serious illness, hospitalization, mechanical ventilation and death.”
The clinic at SCOW administered first and second doses and boosters of the COVID-19 vaccine. Odenwaelder said it’s their mission to host clinics in many communities throughout the state where there have been challenges related to access and subsequently low vaccine participation rates. “We are certainly keeping focus on improving access to vaccines for all who are eligible regardless of whether it’s a primary series or a booster dose,” Odenwaelder explained.
Griffin Hospital is operating clinics seven days a week across the state. No appointments are necessary and walk-ins are encouraged. The state Department of Public Health website or the Griffin Health website provide the latest schedule.
“We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for people to get the vaccine,” Odenwaelder said. “We’re trying to set up clinics in communities with areas of high traffic and high visibility so that as people are going about their daily routines, when they see our vehicles and our signage, they’ll stop and think ‘perhaps I should get my vaccine today.’ It’s so convenient to just pop into your local library or the local school or what have you.”
Frederick Browne, chief medical officer and infectious disease specialist at Griffin Hospital, said the two major vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, are mRNA vaccines, which teach the body to make a specific “spike protein” similar to the virus. If the body can be shown this protein, the body then reacts creating an immune response. That immune response then knows next time it sees this protein that it can attack it, because of the vaccine. And that prevents the virus from getting into your body’s cells.
“The issue is that because of the pandemic, and because of the vaccine, the protein has changed and mutated since 2019, since it started,” Browne said. “Because it mutates so much, there’s been a lot of mutations on the aspect of that spike protein. So there’s been a lot of changes that have occurred in relation to the first strain that we had to the current variant of the Omicron strain that we’re seeing now. That strain has enough variability that we were able to develop a new vaccine related to it.”
The new BioNTech Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines booster became available on Sept. 2 for people 12 years old and up, and Oct. 12 for children ages 5 to 11.
The updated bivalent booster is called “bivalent” because it protects against the original virus that causes COVID-19 and the Omicron variant BA.4 and BA.5. Browne said the bivalent booster is essentially the same vaccine with some adjustment to make sure that the vaccine is more effective on the new COVID-19 variants.
“I think the important thing is that people sort of stay on top of getting the booster. The issue is, that I know people have been concerned about how it doesn’t necessarily prevent you from getting COVID-19, but it does reduce the likelihood of you getting it,” Odenwaelder said. “So that’s the first point. The second point is that the illness that you get when you get infected by COVID-19 is decreased if you’ve been vaccinated. We know that if you’ve never been vaccinated, and have not had the vaccine, that can be catastrophic.”
In the midst of flu season, Odenwaelder said the state DPH is encouraging vaccine providers to administer both the flu and the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time.
“There’s no contraindication to getting those two vaccines at the same time,” she said. “There’s no need to delay on either one, or a period of time from receiving one vaccine and then getting the other. So the recommendation is don’t delay getting vaccinated today. Make sure you get your flu vaccine and that you’re staying up to date on your COVID vaccine.”
Public health specialist, Kathryn Glendon, at Chesprocott Health District said with the holidays coming up, there is always a possibility of seeing an uptick of COVID-19 cases.
“You need to be mindful and have that kind of conversation with your family about what your expectations are, and what your family will be doing to protect themselves so everyone feels comfortable,” Glendon said.
Meriden Department of Health and Human Services – The agency is offering the bivalent vaccine at their flu shot clinics, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. To make an appointment, call 203-630-4234.
Meriden’s Community Health Center – The center is providing COVID-19 vaccination and boosters at 134 State Street, on Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. No appointment needed.
Midstate Medical Center / Hartford Healthcare – is offering COVID-19 vaccine clinics for those age 12 and older only, at 435 Lewis Ave. on Thursdays and Fridays, 8 a.m. –11:30 a.m. (Pfizer); 12:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. (Moderna). Appointments are recommended. To schedule it, visit https://hartfordhealthcare.org.
For a full list of clinics available in Connecticut, visit https://www.vaccines.gov.
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