Connecticut residents 65 and older can get COVID-19 vaccine booster shots starting Friday following CDC recommendation

More than 270,000 Connecticut residents who are 65 or older may receive COVID-19 vaccine booster shots as soon as Friday, following a recommendation from a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel.

The panel on Thursday recommended booster shots for recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine who are 65 or older, who live in long-term care facilities or who have underlying conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. The agency declined to endorse boosters for people whose jobs put them at risk of coronavirus transmission, despite a recommendation from the Food and Drug Administration.

Those eligible for booster shots may get them six months after their second vaccine dose.

With federal regulators having OK’d the shots, state officials say they will be available to Connecticut residents without delay.

“We’ve been preparing this, we’ve been expecting this and our providers have as well,” Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer, said Thursday. “We’re ready to go.”

Geballe said that in addition to the 270,000 Connecticut residents who may get a booster shot, thousands more people with underlying conditions are also eligible. High levels of demand may make appointments difficult to come by at first but that those who want booster shots won’t have to wait long, he said.

“Just be patient,” Geballe said. “We’ve got enough throughput in the system where everyone who’s eligible will be able to get a booster shot within the next week.”

Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday encouraged those eligible for booster shots to sign up immediately at ct.gov/covidvaccine. He said people with high-risk underlying conditions will not be required to show a doctor’s note or otherwise provide proof of their status.

“From my point of view, you can self-report,” Lamont said. “We’ve got a lot of vaccine, so it’s not going to be really strict enforcement.”

Dr. Manisha Juthani, who took over as public health commissioner this week, emphasized that people who have received two vaccine doses still have significant protection against COVID-19. Still, she said, a third dose is a chance for older adults to reinforce their immunity.

“This is a very clear message that for older people, your immunity wanes over time,” Juthani said.

Connecticut residents seeking booster shots may get them at hospital vaccine sites, at urgent care clinics and federally qualified health centers or at pharmacies including CVS and Walgreens. Hospital officials in Connecticut said this week they are ready to distribute booster shots and encouraged eligible residents to schedule appointments.

Connecticut has already administered about 24,000 third doses to moderately and severely immunocompromised people, who were cleared for additional vaccine in August. Though uptake has been slow among that population, hospital officials say they hope to see wider interest in booster shots among other groups.

“We are hoping folks will come around. It’s still in the early stages right now,” Dr. Ajay Kumar, chief medical officer at Hartford HealthCare said Monday. “And I’m hoping that the booster will be widely accepted among the general public.”

People who received the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are not yet eligible for booster shots.

The Biden administration had originally hoped to offer booster shots to all Americans — an ambition that was derailed after federal regulators tightened the eligible group. Ultimately, the CDC panel recommended boosters for those 65 and older, those who live in long-term care facilities and those with high-risk medical conditions but not for younger Americans who are at risk due to their jobs.

The panel was divided over whether to recommend booster shots for people 18-49 with underlying conditions, but a majority of the group eventually voted to do so.

Connecticut continues to rank as one of the states with the highest rates of COVID-19 vaccination, with 75.6% of residents and 86.7% of those 12 and older having received at least one dose.

Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com.