The Pix!

Creating a VacciNation

By Susan McDonald / Photos by Jeff Evans

If 2020 was the year of COVID-19 testing, 2021 is the year of vaccinating. Across Hartford HealthCare, self-dubbed VacciNation, efforts to get vaccines from various manufacturers into arms have been massive. The system opened vaccination mega sites at the Connecticut Convention Center, empty performance halls and casinos. Two mobile units did pop-up vaccine clinics across the state. And system leaders built or strengthened relationships with a wide variety of community partners to reach underserved populations at homeless shelters, places of worship and schools. Here are some visual highlights of VacciNation in action. 

A vaccine clinic at Windham Heights Apartments in Willimantic was arranged as part of a collaborative effort between Hartford HealthCare and other local organizations. Joseph Nales gets his vaccine from Joanne Kombert, RN. 

Hartford HealthCare partnered with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to launch a COVID-19 mega vaccine site at the Foxwoods Resort Casino. Yolanda Negron gets her first vaccine. 

Eddie Torres, a teacher in the New London school system, gets his vaccine at the Foxwoods Casino. Mary Colpoys, MD, administered the vaccine. 

Several interpreters were available at the Foxwoods vaccine clinic to translate directions and questions into sign language as part of a Hartford HealthCare initiative to help vaccinate deaf people in the area. 

Joanne Kombert, RN, Hartford HealthCare, administers a vaccine at the “Shots and Sneakers” mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinic. 

Hartford Police Officer Jim Barrett describes his outreach program for the city’s homeless population at the “Shots and Sneakers” mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinic. 

At a mobile vaccination clinic in East Hartford, in partnership with Anthem, a Hartford HealthCare nurse administers a COVID-19 vaccination to patient Ana Lemus in her car. 

One thousand teachers from the region were able to get their first COVID-19 vaccine during a dedicated session at the Hartford HealthCare vaccine mega-site located in the Rainmaker area of the Foxwoods Casino. Pharmacist Simi Chandy prepares the Pfizer vaccine for the next round of recipients.