Gov. Ned Lamont’s nominee Dr. Manisha Juthani, an infectious disease specialist at the Yale School of Medicine, will assume the role of Commissioner of the state Department of Public Health on September 20. Dr. Juthani’s appointment comes at a time when the COVID-19 positivity rate is at 3.5% statewide, with some towns crossing as high as 9%.

In this hour of Where We Live, we discuss the implications of a full FDA approval of the first ever COVID-19 vaccine – from Pfizer-BioNTech - and what this implies for vaccine uptake as children return to school this fall amidst the Delta, Lambda and other variants. The vaccination rate stands at 64.9% in Connecticut, and is lower for Black and Hispanic residents.

We hear in detail about the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ plans to begin offering COVID-19 shot.html">booster shots in the fall, and address commonly discussed concerns and fears on social media. We also weigh in people’s demands for freedom to not mask up or vaccinate in the face of mandates.

GUEST:

• Dr. Manisha Juthani - Associate professor of medicine (infectious diseases) at Yale School of Medicine, and of epidemiology (microbial diseases) at Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Jutani is Governor Ned Lamont’s appointee to become the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, effective September 20th.

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