Seventy-one percent of Connecticut adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday.
The state tops the nation when it comes to the percentage of fully vaccinated adults and is among the top five states in getting at least one shot in arms, the governor’s office said.
About half of Connecticut’s 16- and 17 year-olds have gotten a shot, putting the vaccine rate for the total population at 57%, the governor said.
The numbers are much higher for those 45 and above (80%) and 65 and older (92%), Lamont said.
“What that means is that 45 and above, we’re very close to what they call herd immunity,” Lamont said. “I know that’s a moving target. But you add that 80% who have been vaccinated along with those who were previously infected over the last year or have some antibodies, we’re in pretty good shape there.”
Connecticut did record 17 more COVID-19 related deaths over the weekend, bringing the total to 8,154 during the pandemic. But Lamont said that hospitalizations fell by 29 patients to 280, the lowest total in more than seven months.
He said that if the metrics continue to trend in direction they are now going, Connecticut could be “back to normal” within a matter of months.
“The fall, we’ll see if there are variants or anything that make us worry, but right now I think it’s a good summer,” he said.
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