The fierce national debate over vaccines came to Hartford on Wednesday as state officials got shouted down by anti-vaccine protesters.
Top state officials had planned to hold an informational forum and press conference to spread the word from the medical community that vaccines are safe.
But starting in the first minute of the press conference at the state Capitol complex, the protesters began shouting.
State Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, a Fairfield Democrat who co-chairs the legislature’s public health committee, began the press conference by saying that about 15 officials had gathered behind her at the podium “with decades of collective experience to speak with one voice to say that vaccines are safe and effective.”
The crowd immediately began to boo, and a woman shouted, “Not true!”
“Excuse me. We want to hear the people’s voices,” McCarthy Vahey responded. “Right now, I ask that you let ours be heard — that vaccines are safe and effective. And together we are doing, and will do everything we can, to assure vaccine access and affordability and to help the people of Connecticut find information as we all navigate a shifting landscape.”
Throughout the entire 31-minute press conference, the crowd interrupted statements by medical doctors and elected officials.
State Sen. Saud Anwar, a South Windsor Democrat who is also a medical doctor, tried to bring order to the crowd in a hearing room in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
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“You’re all welcome in this building. This is your building,” Anwar told the protesters. “We’ll listen to you, but let’s listen to us. … Relax, guys. You’re not helping yourself when you’re arguing.”
Anwar, one of the leading medical voices in the state legislature, told the crowd that some vaccines have side effects.
At one point when Anwar was speaking about the COVID vaccine, a man shouted, “That’s a lie!”
Using analogies, Anwar said, “It was raining earlier. If there are enough umbrellas, people will be dry. That’s where herd immunity comes in. So you have to understand these concepts that will help you navigate this confusion that is being spread.”
When Anwar was finished, a woman shouted, “Liar!”
After the press conference ended, House Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford said, “Vaccines are not dangerous. They are not political. They are a critical tool to keeping our communities safe.”
Ritter, the former co-chairman of the public health committee, was key to removing the religious exemption for required school vaccines that occurred after the legislature voted in 2021 after years of failed attempts. The measure, which was the subject of more than 16 hours of debate on the floor of the House of Representatives, contained a compromise that allowed students who have existing exemptions to keep them.
On Wednesday, state Rep. Anne Dauphinais of Killingly appeared at the Capitol complex to support the families who had gathered for the press conference. House Republicans posted a picture of Dauphinais on Facebook that said she supports the families “regarding vaccine access and medical freedoms.”
The forum, she said, “reflected a single viewpoint leaving no room for open dialogue or competing scientific perspectives. I stand with families demanding a genuine discussion that lays out all the facts, including all sides of the issue — not mandates without input. Today’s forum was an example of an overreaching one-party system in the state of Connecticut.”
Gov. Ned Lamont, a strong supporter of vaccines, said at an unrelated event in Willimantic that spreading accurate health information to families is important.
“All this misinformation and conflicting information coming out of [federal] Health and Human Services is confusing people,” Lamont told reporters. “With all the public health departments from all the Northeastern states speaking with one voice on the importance of vaccines and getting your vaccinations done on a timely basis is clear, and I think that helps.”
Lawmakers gathered a wide-ranging coalition in favor of vaccines for the information forum. That included officials at the state departments of public health, social services, consumer protection, and insurance that all play a role in health care. The group also included the American Academy of Pediatricians, the state medical society, the Fairfield and Hartford Medical Associations, the Connecticut Hospital Association, and the schools of public health at Yale and the University of Connecticut.
Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com