Capitol Update: COVID Vaccines Update, Virtual Legislative Guide, and Winter Food Distribution

Ashford, Tolland, and Willington:

January 6^th, I was sworn in to serve as your state representative in Hartford.

My primary focus will be on providing opportunities for our recent graduates here in Connecticut. It’s critical that we no longer continue to lose our best and brightest to other states.

As you may know, I’ve been appointed to serve on the Finance, Insurance, and Commerce Committees in the state legislature. I look forward to serving you, and you can always contact me at Tammy.Nuccio@housegop.ct.gov.

Below, you can sign up to receive my online newsletter, where I will provide legislative updates to keep you in the loop:

State Transitions to Phase 1b of Vaccine Distribution

Governor Ned Lamont today announced that phase 1b of Connecticut’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout will begin on Monday, January 18, 2021, and residents in the state over the age of 75 can now schedule appointments to receive the vaccine.

In addition, Governor Lamont announced that he is accepting the recommendations of the Allocation Subcommittee of the Governor’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group to expand phase 1b to include additional population groups. In the coming weeks, phase 1b is expected to be expanded to include:

• Residents between the ages of 65 and 74; and
• Residents between the ages of 16 and 64 who have underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk of the virus.

This is in addition to those already in phase 1b, including:

• Residents who are 75 and older;
• Residents and staff of congregate settings; and
• Frontline essential workers.

The state’s webpage for COVID-19 information is now updated to provide information on vaccine access for those 75 and older. This link does not provide all the information for phase 1b but does give information for seniors 75 and older to schedule an appointment to receive the vaccine starting Monday, January 18th.

If you have an email address and the ability to schedule an appointment online, click below to set up a vaccination appointment through the VAMS portal:

75-and-up Vaccine Registration

Those without internet access can call Connecticut’s COVID Vaccine Appointment Assistance Line at 877-918-2224.

The line will take calls on Mondays through Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will offer a call-back option when all contact specialists are busy serving other callers.

Virtual Legislative Guide

I believe our legislature should return to doing our business in person as soon as we can do so safely. The problems facing our state – especially those that have come up most recently as a result of the pandemic – require that we be physically present and accessible to our constituents. And the issue of partisan divisions between Republicans and Democrats is sure to only be made worse if legislators are not as easily accessible to one another.

I will push for us to return to the Capitol Building as soon as it is safe to do so, but until then, I wanted to share with you a useful guide put together for you by the House Republican Caucus on how to stay engaged during this virtual session:

Click here to access the guide

Rentschler Field Winter Food Distribution

Foodshare has been distributing food at Rentschler Field in East Hartford since the start of the pandemic. This distribution site alone has served over 225,000 households; many new to food insecurity due to COVID-19 and has distributed over 6 million meals.

WINTER SCHEDULE

– TUESDAYS starting on January 12; with an end date to be determined.

– 9:30 am – 1:00 pm

– Address:  615 Silver Lane, East Hartford, CT 06118 – Silver Lane entrance; gates will close at 1:00 pm

– One allocation of food per car