Covid Strike Team ​“Pops Up” At Casa Otonal

A city ​“strike team” made its first stop in the Hill Wednesday to deliver Moderna Covid-19 vaccinations to 100 homebound seniors.

New Haven’s Health Department is sending to team to staff pop-up vaccination clinics for New Haveners included in phase 1b of the state’s Covid-19 plan. The strike team schedule will offer one-day pop-up vaccination site on Wednesdays and Saturdays at different senior centers around town.

Stop one Wednesday was the Casa Otonal senior complex on Sylvan Avenue in the Hill, where seniors aged 75 and up enthusiastically showed up for their shots.

The city formed the strike force in response to community leaders seeking a plan to better reach elderly residents who can’t visit a hospital, public health clinic or private medical practice to get vaccinated.

City Health Director Maritza Bond toured the Hill site Wednesday with Mayor Justin Elicker and Hill Alder Ron Hurt. Bond said the strike team will target senior apartment complexes to offer access to the vaccination to those eligible in phase 1b. (Phase 1a made seniors living in nursing homes or other assisted-care facilities eligible for vaccinations starting in December.)

“We reached to all of our senior housing facilities, and they answered the call of making sure that access to vaccinations is not a barrier,” Bond said.

A pop-up vaccination site Wednesday was the Park Ridge Apartments, where staff expected to vaccinate 50 – 80 residents, Bond said.

Residents like Ron Simmot (pictured), 76, lined up eagerly in the Casa Otonal lobby for a hour before the vaccination room opened Wednesday. Simmot said he was delighted to get an appointment. He said he was on a wait list at Walmart’s Pharmacy and Smilow Cancer Hospital.

“The vaccine is like a shield. I had no hesitation at all,” he said. ​“The danger is in the virus and the protection is in the vaccine.”

Some pop-ups will be open to the public, while others will be closed to only residents of the senior apartment complexes.

Vaccinations were done in the community room on the first floor. Upon entering, the residents provided an ID and proof of insurance. One side of the room was used for four vaccination stations, each with an assisted city nurse. On the other side of the room was a waiting area for the residents to sit for at least 15 minutes after getting the shot to be monitored for any immediate allergic reactions.

Hurt said the pop-up site is like a breath of fresh air. ​“The Hill has been the last in everything, but now we’re finally the first,” he said.

Hurt has talked with hesitant Hill residents who are fearful of getting the vaccine due to mistrust in medical care he said. ​“They’re worried about the history of medicine. Many bring up what happened at Tuskegee [Syphilis Study] and have fears because of that,” said Hurt. ​“Others say they’d prefer to ​‘wait it out.’”


Those who got their first dose received a pin to wear like a ​“badge of honor” and help others feel comfortable with getting vaccinated.

Simmot suffers from two types of cancer and therefore was thrilled to get the vaccine to remain safe. ​“Until we have herd immunity, I’m going to keep wearing my mask and taking precautions,” he said after getting his first dose. ​“I feel protected.”

Eligible residents can sign up for a vaccine appointment by calling the CT Vaccine Hotline at 1 – 877-918‑2224 or calling the New Haven Health Department at 1 – 203-639‑2245.

The first resident to be vaccinated Wednesday at Casa Otonal was Lino Monge (pictured). The oldest resident vaccinated on-site Wednesday was 92; 93 percent of people who have died from covid in Connecticut are 60 years and older, noted Elicker.

Elicker reported that the city has vaccinated approximately 3,500 people so far. The majority of those were vaccinated in phase 1a.