There’s GOOD news and not-so-GOOD news for Wilton in today’s COVID-19 update: although there was a one-day report of eight new positive cases in town recorded by the CT Department of Public Health for Thursday, Aug. 12, the weekly data released on the number of vaccinated residents shows a very high rate of eligible residents who have had at least one dose — 91%.
The state’s health officials do not release information on the vaccination status of residents who have tested positive, so it is unknown whether the residents testing positive have been vaccinated or not.
Wilton Case Data
As of Thursday, Aug. 12, there were eight new COVID-19-positive cases in Wilton, bringing the number since the start of the pandemic to a total of 1,268 cases. With 116 tests reported for the day, that puts Wilton’s one-day test positivity rate at 6.9% — much higher than it’s been since April, although it still fluctuates.
(The state’s test positivity rate has been hovering around 3%-3.5% for the last two weeks.)
In just the first 12 days of August, Wilton has reported 25 total cases — more than twice the number of cases reported in July (12) and six times as many in June (4).
In the weekly risk map released each Thursday by the state (see main image, above), the CT-DPH now officially classifies Wilton as a “Yellow” risk town, with a two-week rolling average of 5-9 cases per 100,000 people. There are 39 CT municipalities categorized as very high “Red” risk.
While the state’s reporting period is delayed (July 25-Aug. 7), GOOD Morning Wilton tracks data daily. With the eight new cases as of Aug. 12, Wilton’s trajectory (see chart below) has climbed into the “Orange” risk category (two-week average of 10-14 cases/100,000).
Wilton’s Vaccination Data
Wilton residents have supported the call to vaccinate. According to weekly data on vaccination rates released Thursday, Aug. 12, Wilton has one of the highest vaccination rates in the state (16th).
For the entire town, almost 77% of Wilton residents have received at least one vaccine dose; 72% are fully vaccinated. Health officials consider 75-80% as a minimum for herd immunity.
For eligible people (age 12-and-up), Wilton’s numbers are very strong: just about 91% have received their first vaccine dose and 85% are fully vaccinated.
Number of residents percent Town Population 18,343 one dose 14,026 76.47% two doses 13139 71.63% Eligible Population 15,463 one dose 14,026 90.71% two doses 13139 84.97%
How do the town’s vaccination rates break down by age? The state revised its age categorizations this week, better defining the age brackets. The numbers are impressive (see chart below). One thing to note, however, are the gaps between first and second doses among the 12-17-year-olds (8.7% gap) and 18-24-year-olds (15.5% gap). While the older cohorts are following the two-dose protocol, the younger residents are slower to do so.
| Age Group | Number of residents | Percent of population | First Dose | Percent | Second Dose | Percent |
| 12-17 | 2,114 | 11.52% | 1,785 | 84.44% | 1,602 | 75.78% |
| 18-24 | 1,230 | 6.71% | 1,245 | 101.30% | 1,055 | 85.77% |
| 25-44 | 3,178 | 17.33% | 2,802 | 88.17% | 2631 | 82.79% |
| 45-64 | 6,127 | 33.40% | 5,137 | 83.84% | 4,941 | 80.64% |
| 65+ | 2,814 | 15.34% | 3,056 | 108.60% | 2,910 | 103.41% |
| <12 | 2,880 | 15.70% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
In national news today:
- The FDA authorized additional COVID-19 vaccine doses for some immunocompromised people
- The National Education Association, America’s largest teachers’ union, announced it supported mandates requiring all teachers to be vaccinated or submit to regular testing. That follows the American Federation of Teachers’ weekend announcement supporting vaccine mandates for teachers as well.
- The CDC strongly recommended vaccines for people who are pregnant and/or nursing.
State News:
- The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference issued its fall sports guidelines for COVID-19. GMW has coverage of that today as well.
- According to Hearst Media, state health experts say that the Delta variant will wane in September, following the trend seen in European countries which have generally tracked a few weeks ahead of the U.S. “Connecticut’s latest COVID-19 surge likely will dissipate by the end of September, around the time Gov. Ned Lamont’s emergency powers expire, public health experts said Wednesday. Until then, the more CT residents who wear face masks against the virulent delta strain of COVID, the safer the state will be. But a fractured state policy of different mask rules in differnt [sic] cities and towns complicates the pandemic response, the public health experts said.