Dec 23 – Sen Hwang CT Coronavirus Response Update

December 23, 2021

Pfizer’s New Drug to Treat Covid-19

As co-chair of the Bioscience Caucus and a supporter of bioscience and pharmaceutical sciences, I applaud the just-announced FDA Emergency Use Authorization of Pfizer’s CT based research and development laboratory in discovering an oral antiviral treatment, called PAXLOVID™ (nirmatrelvir [PF-07321332] tablets and ritonavir tablets). This breakthrough medication is designed to mitigate the dangerous symptoms of COVID-19 in pill-form to save lives and mitigate devastating and potentially deadly results.

Once again, Connecticut’s own Pfizer is on the forefront of innovation and medical breakthroughs in the effort to eradicate COVID-19. PAXLOVID™ tablets were developed in the Groton, CT research and development laboratory and underwent their first clinical trials in New Haven. This landmark bioscience achievement is an uplifting indicator that CT’s bioscience industry and scientists are constantly thinking through new solutions to enable us to begin to cope with and ultimately ‘beat’ this pandemic instead of placing our lives on hold while hoping for this to pass. Pfizer was first to develop the COVID-19 vaccine, and now they are first to take the next step to help reduce the dangerous and devastating pandemic health risks. I am incredibly grateful and optimistic for us to have another available tool to manage COVID-19 infections and variants.”

Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer offered in a written statement upon FDA EUA approval, “Today’s authorization of PAXLOVID™ represents another tremendous example of how science will help us ultimately defeat this pandemic, which, even two years in, continues to disrupt and devastate lives  across the world. This breakthrough therapy, which has been shown to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths and can be taken at home, will change the way we treat COVID-19, and  hopefully help reduce some of the significant pressures facing our healthcare and hospital systems. Pfizer stands ready to begin delivery  in the U.S. immediately to help get PAXLOVID™ into the hands of appropriate patients as quickly as possible.”

Where to Find Testing and Vaccination Sites

– TESTING –
Connecticut’s 211 infoline and website can connect you to available testing sites throughout the state sorted by towns and zip codes.  Walk-in and appointment options are available.

– VACCINES/BOOSTERS –
The federal government has established a dedicated website: vaccines.gov where you can search for available vaccine appointments by zip code and preferred brand of Covid vaccines. With a few clicks you have a list of where and when you can get your vaccine.

 

It is recommended that individuals 18 years and older should get a Covid-19 booster shot if it has been at least two months since you received J&J or six months since you received a second shot of Pfizer or Moderna.

Data updates on testing in Connecticut

The Office of the Governor provided the following updates as of 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 22, 2021:

The following is a summary of the day-to-day newly reported data on cases and tests in Connecticut. It is important to note that these newly reported updates include data that occurred over the last several days to a week. All data in this report are preliminary, and data for previous dates will be updated as new reports are received and data errors are corrected.

Overall Summary Total Change Since Yesterday
COVID-19 Cases (confirmed and probable) 471,141 +3,366
COVID-19 Tests Reported (molecular and antigen) 13,187,357 +37,678
Daily Test Positivity 8.93%
Patients Currently Hospitalized with COVID-19 821 -13

Of the 821 patients currently hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, 619 (75.4%) are not fully vaccinated.

For the week beginning December 5, 2021, unvaccinated persons had a 5.5x greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 compared to fully vaccinated persons.

For the week beginning December 5, 2021, unvaccinated persons had a 20.1x greater risk of dying from COVID-19 compared to fully vaccinated persons.

Data on COVID-19 associated deaths is updated once per week every Thursday. The most recently reported total number of deaths is 9,002.

County-by-county breakdown of current COVID-19 hospitalizations:

County Current COVID-19 Hospitalizations
Fairfield County 182
Hartford County 223
Litchfield County 25
Middlesex County 37
New Haven County 262
New London County 63
Tolland County 6
Windham County 23
Total 821

For a series of interactive graphs and maps that provide additional data, including metrics related to age, gender, and race/ethnicity, as well as data broken down by every town and city in Connecticut, visit ct.gov/coronavirus and click the link that is labeled, “Data Tracker.”