By Paul Hughes, Republican-American
HARTFORD — More than 1,500 new cases of COVID-19 were reported over the weekend as the rapidly spreading delta variant of the coronavirus continued to fuel a surge in infections.
State health officials also reported Monday that 369 patients were hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, the highest number recorded since late April when the patient count last dipped below 400 statewide.
A large majority of recent patient admissions are people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. Nearly 28,000 hospitalizations have been recorded since the delta variant was first detected in the state in early May.
Gov. Ned Lamont and acting Public Health Commissioner Deidre S. Gifford expressed hope Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will encourage more people in Connecticut to get vaccinated.
“This should further reassure those who decided to wait for the full FDA approval before being vaccinated,” said Gifford, an epidemiologist.
The FDA fully approved the Pfizer vaccine for anyone age 16 and older. The shot will continue to be dispensed to 12- to 15-year-olds under an emergency use authorization, until the company files its application for full approval. Moderna has also applied to the FDA for full approval of its vaccine, and J&J said it hopes to do so later this year.
The newly approved vaccine manufactured by Connecticut-based Pfizer Inc. and German partner BioNTech SA represents nearly 60% of the COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the state.
More than 4.7 million vaccine doses have been provided to Connecticut residents, according to the latest numbers from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including more than 2.7 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, nearly 1.8 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, and roughly 195,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, and the J&J vaccine only requires a single shot.
Roughly 1.3 million of the state’s fully vaccinated residents received the Pfizer vaccine, and approximately 844,520 received a Moderna shot, and another 194,370 got a J&J shot. The difference between the total J&J shots administered and fully vaccinated number is due to some people also completing a series of one of the two MRNA vaccines.
Gifford said COVID-19 vaccines are easily accessible throughout Connecticut at pharmacies, health care providers, hospitals and federally qualified health centers.
“With this vaccine, COVID-19 is even closer to being a preventable disease,” she said. “This virus affects people of all races, ages and economic status, and the vaccine is by far the safest and most effective strategy we have to put this pandemic behind us once and for all.”
The state Department of Public Health on Monday reported 1,554 new cases of COVID-19 recorded between Friday and Sunday. The three-day positive test rate was 3.5% based on the 44,354 test results that were received.
There now have been 367,410 cases of COVID-19 reported since March 2020, and more than 10.3 million molecular and antigen tests have been performed.
There was a net increase of 23 patients hospitalized with confirmed cases over the weekend between new admissions and discharges. There now have been 37,690 hospital admissions.
Of the 369 hospitalizations reported Monday, there were 126 patients hospitalized in Hartford County, 99 patients in New Haven County and 87 patients in Fairfield County. There were 25 hospitalizations in New London County, a dozen in Litchfield County and 10 in Middlesex County.
The most recently reported total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 or complications from the disease is 8,330. Fatalities are updated weekly every Thursday.
