Danbury Mayor Updates Vaccine Distribution and Talks City Budget
The City of Danbury is working hard to get the COVID-19 vaccine into peoples arms, and Mayor Cavo gives us an update.
Every Tuesday morning you can find out what's happening in Danbury as Mayor Joe Cavo is on with us to discuss the issues people are talking about in and around the city.
I want to touch on vaccine distribution in the city. I know you're working hard to get this vaccine to people before we get hit with some of the new variants. What can you tell us about that and has there been any changes in the original plan?
"It's a challenge and it's a race. We're hoping, as we promised, that the dosages that will be delivered to our clinics here in the city will be increased. The more people we can get vaccinated the faster we'll get to the end of this thing. It also helps us beat out these variants as they develop because there are people who aren't vaccinated yet, so we have to get to that point where everyone is able to get the vaccine to get this thing under control."
I don't fear the virus, but I've just tried to stay safe and cautious. However, some states want to lift certain mandates, and with these new variants, I think they are jumping the gun a little too soon which could lead to another spike and another wave of the virus.
"I'm glad that Connecticut is not doing that at the moment. I'm glad we're staying very cautious about how we open. I think what happens is that if you approach the re-opening slowly, you can react faster if things change and don't work out the way you're anticipating. You can just go back one step and it's not very hard. If you go to some of these other states that are dropping all the rules, if things go array there, it's a big lift to go back the other way again. I like the way we're doing things here in Danbury, I think it's prudent and I think it's the smart way to go."
Over the past weekend, Danbury Hospital announced they were going to stop the distribution of the vaccine at their facility -- now is that for just people getting the first dose? Are second doses still going on there?
"You know I'm not sure of that, I'm assuming that they are going to stop giving out the first dose of the vaccine, but they will finish out the second doses that they have been scheduled there for the next few weeks."
Before we wrap up today, I heard you're working on the new budget for the city.
"Yes, we're working on it right now and we'll present it to the council the first meeting of April."
Joe I want you to read my lips....no new taxes.
"Even talking to you on the phone I can still read your lips. We're working really hard to limit the impact on the public. It's been a tough year and has been very hard on people financially, emotionally, and we want to make sure we're sensitive to their needs as we move forward through the rest of 2021 and into 2022."