FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2021, file photo, a health worker administers a dose of a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination clinic at the Reading Area Community College in Reading, Pa. An influential federal advisory panel overwhelmingly rejected a plan Friday, Sept. 17, to offer Pfizer booster shots against COVID-19 to most Americans, dealing a heavy blow to the Biden administration’s effort to shore up people’s protection amid the highly contagious delta variant. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Saturday got his third dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, urging others on social media to follow suit.

“Getting your booster is so easy! Same with your first shot,” the 67-year-old Democrat posted on Twitter, along with photos of him stripped down to his white t-shirt and face mask and getting the vaccine at the Durham Fair.

An estimated 270,000 Connecticut residents who are 65 years and older and who originally received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, including nursing home residents, could begin getting their third booster shot on Friday. Residents ages 50 to 64 with risky underlying health conditions and who received the Pfizer vaccine are also allowed to obtain a third dose at more than 800 locations across the state. Those sites can be found online.

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MAINE

There’s no Common Ground Fair this weekend because of the pandemic, but vendors staged an alternative.

Several longtime Common Ground participants banded together to organize smaller events at venues scattered around Unity on Saturday. They dubbed it the Fall for Saturdays Tour.

Robin Pratt told the Bangor Daily News that her Northern Solstice Alpaca Farm would normally see about 60,000 visitors because her farm is in the middle of the fair’s parking area.

Pratt said she’s not second-guessing the decision to cancel the fair. She said it wouldn’t be safe to have so many people gathering as the delta variant continues to spread across the state.

But she said it’s not fall in Maine without the fair, which is sponsored by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.

“People sort of have this internal clock that tells them it’s Common Ground weekend,” Pratt said.

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MASSACHUSETTS

About 600,000 Massachusetts residents are now eligible for Pfizer booster shots under newly announced federal eligibility criteria, according to state officials.

Those eligible for third doses of the Pfizer vaccine include people ages 65 and older, residents of long-term care settings, people with underlying medical conditions and those who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission based on their jobs. To be eligible, individuals also are required to have received the Pfizer vaccine at least six months ago.

State officials said they expect to have the capacity to administer over 300,000 Pfizer booster shots a week by mid-October, the Boston Globe reported.

Starting Saturday, appointments were available at 460 locations across the state, most of them pharmacies.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has rejected claims by the owners of several summer camps who argued they were unfairly denied grant money during the coronavirus pandemic.

The owners of Camp Walt Whitman, Camp Wicosuta and Camp Winaukee applied for funding from the state’s General Assistance and Preservation Fund last year but were rejected. State officials said they targeted the limited federal aid available to businesses that lacked the resources to weather the crisis and noted that camps’ owners had tens of millions of dollars in cash liquid assets.

The camps, which argued they were treated differently based on their corporate structure, appealed to the state Supreme Court, which sided with the state in a ruling this week.

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RHODE ISLAND

An open government coalition is asking Rhode Island’s governor to allow public agencies to hold meetings online due to the surge of COVID-19 infections.

ACCESS/RI said Friday that it sent a letter to Democratic Gov. Dan McKee asking him to issue an executive order because his previous order to waive the requirement that members of public bodies meet in person expired in July.

Since then, the coalition said, some public bodies have had difficulty getting enough members to attend in person for a quorum and some members of the public have been reluctant to attend.

“Members of the public face a choice between their health and their ability to participate in our democracy,” the coalition said.

State legislatures in neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts codified similar executive orders to allow for online meetings until the spring, the coalition added.

Rhode Island’s legislature considered allowing online meetings until July 2023, which ACCESS/RI opposed due to the length of time and the belief that in-person meetings should be the default.

The letter was signed by ACCESS/RI, the ACLU of Rhode Island, League of Women Voters of Rhode Island, Common Cause, University of Rhode Island and the New England First Amendment Coalition.

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VERMONT

Vermont is one of 26 states with Occupational Safety and Health Administration plans that would expand vaccine requirements or testing to school district employees, according to Vermont Education Secretary Dan French.

Under President Joe Biden’s expanded vaccine mandate, all employers with more than 100 workers must require them to get shots or test for the virus weekly. States that have approved OSHA plans would extend that to public sector employees, including school districts, French said this week during the governor’s virus briefing.

Under the proposed standard of employers with 100 employees, about 60 of Vermont’s 154 school employing entities, including both school districts and supervisory unions, would be required to mandate vaccination and testing, French said.

“Since our plan will need to be at least as stringent as the federal one we are considering expanding the state requirement to include all school districts not just those that have 100 employees,” he said. The state is expected to have more news on the plan in the coming weeks, he said.

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