A Hartford school security officer was the first local resident to get vaccinated for COVID-19 with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Wednesday at an event at Hartford Hospital.
Victor Rodriguez, who works at Environmental Sciences Magnet School, rolled up his sleeve for the one-dose vaccine, flexing his muscles for the cameras and joking with the media.
Hartford HealthCare staged the media event to mark its first shipment of 7,400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The statewide system also announced that patients would now have the option via its MyChart platform to choose which vaccine they get: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer or Moderna.
“It represents hope for everyone,” HHC Pharmacy Director Eric Arlia said of the new vaccine option. Teachers and school staff would be among the first to get access to the Johnson & Johnson shot, along with patients at community health centers.
“People who have more choice feel more engaged in the process,” Arlia said.
Yale New Haven Health was the first in Connecticut to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, receiving its 7,400 doses on Tuesday afternoon with plans to deliver them throughout its system Wednesday morning.
The arrival of the latest vaccine marks a new stage in the fight against COVID-19, Arlia said. As of Wednesday, HHC alone had administered more than 150,000 doses of vaccine since the start of the vaccination campaign, with 92,000 people getting at least one dose from the health system.
HHC opened a “mega” mass vaccination site at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford on Monday and is set to open three more next week, at the Xfinity Theater in Hartford, Foxwoods casino in Ledyard and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.
Trinity Health Of New England’s Johnson Memorial Hospital partnered with the town of Enfield to open a mass vaccination site on Monday at the Enfield Annex, 124 North Maple St. The clinic in Enfield can vaccinate up to 640 people a day, depending on vaccine availability.
