VERNON, Conn. — On Wednesday, Governor Lamont announced the state's COVID-19 numbers. Results showed there were 141 positive cases, the first time the rate has jumped above one percent since June 1.
In response to this, the Town of Vernon hosted their vaccine clinic with hopes to bring that percentage down again.
It was a "you choose" clinic where all three vaccines were available.
It was held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Hartford Turnpike. There were people of all ages from young adults to middle-aged.
"It's the normalcy, returning to normalcy in life. Getting people back into the mainstream. Getting people back to work. Getting people back into the stadium, getting people back to shopping, children for school, very important things we need to get back to some normalcy," said Town of Vernon Clinical Director Dan Wasilewski.
Governor Lamont stressed the danger of the Delta variant and urged people to get the vaccine because it can also protect them from this stronger surge of COVID-19.
"I think that the people who aren't vaccinated should take a serious look at getting vaccinated now that this new variant has to come forward," added Wasilewski.
The FDA recently issued a warning associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and said there is a link to a rare syndrome called Guillan-Barre which is an autoimmune condition.
Joe Amenta, a stay-at-home dad said he is not worried about the syndrome.
"Guillan-Barre... it's treatable. This is not. I would rather take that chance than ... my wife has a rare disease and there's no way I want to bring this home," said Amenta of Vernon.
For others, getting the vaccine after all was based on convenience.
"This COVID's been going on for more than a year. I haven't gotten sick yet. I don't know if it's just luck or just the way I live my life, but this can't be any closer to my house," said Erik Askeland of Vernon.
Dr. Abrantes-Figueredo with Trinity Health is still encouraging people to get the vaccine as the chance to get the syndrome is slim.
For those who are still unvaccinated, she said they have been contributing to the higher positivity rate.
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"Even if they do become infected, they have less of a chance in giving other people the infection, so we're definitely seeing it more in the unvaccinated individuals. The other big thing is the folks that are still getting hospitalized for COVID-19 infections are patients who are unvaccinated the majority," said Dr. Abrantas-Figueredo, an infectious disease physician with St. Francis Hospital
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