Yale New Haven Health administers 300,000 doses of COVID vaccine

New Haven, CT (April 19, 2021) – Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS) has reached a significant milestone, having administered 300,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine across the Health System. The milestone mark was set on Sunday, April 18. In addition, YNHHS has been able to administer 99 percent of the vaccines it has received directly to the public, resulting in essentially no wasted doses.

“This achievement speaks to what we have said all along – people need to trust the science behind the efficacy of the vaccine,” said Tom Balcezak, MD, chief clinical officer, Yale New Haven Health. “We have emphasized, since vaccines became available, that in order for us to get out of this pandemic, we needed at least 80 percent of our residents vaccinated to cross that threshold of herd immunity. The hard work done through education, messaging and word of mouth is certainly helping us to mitigate COVID-19.”

As of April 14, Yale New Haven Health had been allocated 329,040 doses of vaccines. Of those, 324,969 doses have been administered or are scheduled to be administered by April 24, which reflects a 99 percent rate of getting shots in arms with practically zero waste. As a comparison, nationally, according to CDC, the United States is operating at 78 percent rate, with a total allocation of 250,998,265 vaccines and 194,791,836 administered.

Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), part of Yale New Haven Health, is a nationally recognized, 1,541-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Medicine (YSM). Founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the U.S. in 1826, today, YNHH has two New Haven-based campuses, and also includes Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital and Smilow Cancer Hospital. YNHH has received Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s highest honor of nursing excellence. YNHH has a combined medical staff of about 4,500 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties. www.ynhh.org