As Connecticut begins to roll-out COVID vaccinations, questions have arisen about where afterschool program staff fit in. Here’s the latest on what we know:

Staff at afterschool and youth camp programs that work directly with children are considered critical workforce and will be included in the state’s phased-in approach to vaccine prioritization. The state is currently in Phase 1a which includes health care workers, nursing home residents, and staff and first responders who make medical calls.  Child care providers and youth camps are not in Phase 1a, but will be included in a future phase.

In preparation, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) is working with critical workforce employers to help them register their employees into the Vaccine Administration and Management System (VAMS) by submitting their names and email addresses. Automated emails from the VAMS program will be sent out asking individuals to register if you would like to receive a vaccination. Those that choose to register will be required to complete other health forms through the system.

If you are an individual, please contact your employer about this process.

If you are an employer, there are a number of ways you might access the VAMS system:

• If you are a licensed child care  or youth camp program, or if you are a license exempt program that receives Care 4 Kids, the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) has already shared your program information with DPH and you should have already received an email from DPH with additional follow-up information.
• If you are a licensed exempt program because you are administered by a school or a municipality, then your program staff can be included as part of the school or municipal employee registration process, and you should contact the school or municipal administration directly. Many of these agencies are moving quickly on this issue, so do not wait to contact them.
• For those employers who have not received an email from DPH, your record may have been missing key information needed to be included. Or if your program is license exempt for a different reason, you might need to register your organization. In either case, please go to  https://dphsubmissions.ct.gov/VAMSEnrollment and complete the employer survey.

You can find more information on COVID-19 Vaccinations and Employers at https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/COVID-19-Vaccinations—Employers.

The details are emerging slowly and there is still potential for change, as you might imagine. Please refer to the state’s main COVID information page at https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus.

If you are struggling to connect with these resources to ensure that your afterschool and youth camp staff are vaccinated, you can contact the Connecticut After School Network by calling and leaving a message at 860-730-2941 or emailing us with VACCINE in the subject line to info@ctafterschoolnetwork.org and we will try to help you as best we can.

We know that information is changing rapidly, and if you believe that something on this page is incorrect, please contact us at info@ctafterschoolnetwork.org so that we can keep this information as accurate as possible.