As the country supports a possible fourth-wave COVID infections, Gov. Ned Lamont said he was not worried that such a boom would hit Connecticut as more people were vaccinated.
As cases and hospitalizations climbed last month, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky warned of a possible fourth wave due to the weakening of COVID restrictions nationwide and too many Americans letting go of their guards. The emergence of COVID-19 variants, which are apparently more contagious, was part of the concern.
“The trajectory of the pandemic in the United States looks very much like many other countries in Europe, including Germany, Italy and France, just a few weeks ago,” Walensky said in a March 29 White House letter. “And since then, countries have been experiencing a steady and worrying increase in cases.”
But Lamont said he is confident that vaccinations in Connecticut are progressing fast enough to cause such a wave to rise. He said about 50 percent of Connecticut residents received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
“I would like to think that next week we will have about 60 percent of our people vaccinated,” Lamont said Thursday. “I think we’re going to break the back of this thing.”
Governor Ned Lamont
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut MediaConnecticut has administered 1.42 million first doses of the vaccine since last week and 883,000 people have been fully vaccinated.
Local doctors are also cautiously optimistic about the possibility of a new increase in COVID cases. But they said if there was a new boom in COVID, it would technically be the third wave in Connecticut – not the fourth.
“If you look at the country as a whole, it looks like we had three waves, but in Connecticut it looks like we only had two waves,” said Dr. Michael Parry, director of infectious diseases at Stamford Hospital, said.
He said the first wave hit last spring when COVID-19 first came to Connecticut, and the second was around late fall and early winter.
Parry and dr. Gregory Buller, chief medical officer and chair of the medical department at Bridgeport Hospital, said a new COVID increase in Connecticut is possible, but they share Lamont’s optimism that it can be prevented with the speed of vaccinations.
“With vaccinations, there should not be another large number of people admitted to the hospital,” Buller said. “People will be admitted to the hospital, but not in large numbers.”
If a new wave does hit, it is quite possible that it could be very blunt and could not be a major problem, Parry said. Although he is a realist, it will not surprise me if the numbers rise again.
Dr. Corina Marcu, co-vice president of medical affairs at the St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, said her biggest concern is the COVID variants, and their ability to quickly infect a large number of people.
“It’s going to be a tough race against the vaccine variant,” Marcu said. ‘I think a lot of people get very relaxed (about the virus). I think it’s a little too relaxed because the variants are there. ‘
All the experts said that the key to preventing a new upsurge – or to reduce its impact – is to be vaccinated and continue to take safety precautions such as wearing a mask and avoiding large crowds.
“People want things to be as they remember them, without masks and more gatherings,” said Dr. David Hill, professor of medical sciences and senior director of the global public health program at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac , said. University. ‘As we tackle vaccinations, we need to realize that this pandemic is not over yet. We’re looking to the future, but it’s not over yet. ”