We're approaching another milestone in the COVID-19 vaccine qualifying process in Connecticut as those who are 16 and older will become eligible in a little over three weeks.
On April 5, those who are 16 and older will be come eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but here are some things you should know.
Doctors say it's important to highlight that as of right now, only the Pfizer vaccine is authorized for people 16 and older. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are currently available only to those who are 18 and older.
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So what does that mean? Essentially until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says differently, those who are 16 and 17 years old will need to get the Pfizer shot.
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Connecticut Children's said they'll have that vaccine on hand for their patients.
In addition, as the process ramps up, for many healthcare institutions, the idea will be to give those with high-risk medical conditions preferred access as the phases open up.
"The most important thing we are doing is we are proactively reaching out to all of our patients who are 16, 17 and up who also have risk factors for getting severely ill with COVID," said Connecticut Children's Pediatric Hospitalist Dr. Patricia Garcia. "So underlying medical conditions or other issues."
The state said they're also planning on having dedicated clinics for young people with intellectual or developmental disabilities who live at home. The hope is to provide them with a safe and comfortable place to receive the vaccine.
Over the next several weeks, healthcare professionals will be reaching out to patients 16 and up to get the ball rolling with the vaccine process.
