The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave its formal full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for people 16 and older on Monday, Aug. 23.
Health officials expect the news to prompt an increase in vaccination numbers, as some individuals had been reticent to take the vaccine due to fears it was too experimental and said they wanted to wait until the FDA gave its approval. A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 31% of unvaccinated adults say full approval by the FDA would make them more likely to get the vaccine.
The regulatory move also sparked announcements of new vaccine mandates, most prominently from the Department of Defense, which announced on Monday that it would make getting the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for its 1.4 million active-duty members of the military.
New York City also announced that all employees of the city’s Department of Education — teachers and principals among them — must have at least one dose of the vaccine by Sept. 27, something that Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced already last week.
Dr. Deirdre Gifford, the acting commissioner of the CT Department of Public Health (DPH) said she hoped that the FDA’s approval announcement would increase CT residents’ confidence about getting vaccinated.
“This should further reassure those who decided to wait for the full FDA approval before being vaccinated. While we have seen an increase of COVID cases across the country due to the Delta variant, we are in a far different place now than we were a year ago thanks to this extraordinary tool,” she said, calling the vaccine “…by far the safest and most effective strategy we have to put this pandemic behind us once and for all.”
Numbers released weekly by the CT-DPH show that vaccine numbers edged slightly up in Wilton (as of Aug. 18, 2021) compared to the prior week. In the week of Aug. 12-18, 54 residents received the first shot and 70 more residents completed the two-dose protocol.
So far, at least 84% of each age group has had at least one dose of the vaccine. Data showed that not only has everyone in the 18- to 24-year-old and 65-and-older groups received the first shot, but the latter cohort is entirely fully vaccinated.
In all, just under 77% of Wilton’s total population of 18,343 has gotten the first dose, and 72% of the town’s residents are now fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 Vaccination Rates for Wilton Residents
(as of Aug. 18, 2021)
Age Group Number of residents Percent of total population First Dose Percent Change since last week Second Dose Percent Change since last week 12-17 2,114 11.52% 1,804 85.34% 19 1,642 77.67% 40 18-24 1,230 6.71% 1,248 101.46% 2 1,063 86.42% 8 25-44 3,178 17.33% 2,816 88.61% 14 2639 83.04% 8 45-64 6,127 33.40% 5,150 84.05% 13 4,950 80.79% 9 65+ 2,814 15.34% 3,062 108.81% 6 2,915 103.59% 5 <12 2,880 15.70% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A TOTAL 18343 14080 76.76% 54 13,209 72.01% 70
Looking only at the number of residents who are eligible (over age 12) to receive the vaccine, the data shows that of the 15,463 eligible residents, 91% have gotten the first shot and 85.4% have also gotten the second one.
COVID-19 Vaccination Rates for Eligible Wilton Residents
(as of Aug. 18, 2021)
Age Group Number of residents First Dose Percent of population Second Dose Percent of population 12-17 2,114 1,804 85.34% 1,642 77.67% 18-24 1,230 1,248 101.46% 1,063 86.42% 25-44 3,178 2,816 88.61% 2639 83.04% 45-64 6,127 5,150 84.05% 4,950 80.79% 65+ 2,814 3,062 108.81% 2,915 103.59% TOTAL 15463 14,080 91.06% 13209 85.42%