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Here’s Your COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker (and Other Mobile Tools) for 2021

December 29, 2020

It’s not just social-distancing, masks and hand-washing that’ll get us through COVID-19. Our phones (or tablets or desktops) can help, too.

Here are five ways:

Johns Hopkins Vaccine Tracker

Johns Hopkins, which maintains the definitive COVID-19 dashboard courtesy of its Center for Systems Science and Engineering (click here, then scroll down to the dashboard), now offers a Vaccine Tracker that compiles data from states reporting the administration of COVID-19 vaccines. It’s still early, with vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna only recently receiving an Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, but Connecticut is among the first states providing data.

That’s good for us. After clicking the state on the Vaccine Tracker map, you’ll find everything from doses administered to confirmed cases, deaths, total tested and testing positivity percentage by past day, week, month and all-time.

You can also click by county to find new daily cases per 100,000 people. There’s much more — this is a great resource.

Traveling? Let Google Maps Identify COVID-19 Levels

Google Maps takes you anywhere, but it can also tell you if you’re heading toward a COVID-19 hotspot. By activating the COVID-19 layer in the app, available on iOS and Android phones, you’ll see a color-coded map based on the seven-day average number of confirmed cases per 100,000 people in each area. You’ll also see if the case numbers are going up or down.

The layer’s colors indicate:

  • Gray: Less than 1 case.
  • Yellow: 1-10 cases.
  • Orange: 10-20 cases.
  • Dark orange: 20-30 cases.
  • Red: 30-40 cases.
  • Dark red: 40-plus cases.

To turn on the COVID-19 layer:

  • Open Google Maps.
  • At the top, tap Layers/COVID-19 info.

What’s Your COVID-19 Risk at an Indoor Gathering?

Use science, not just intuition, when deciding if that invitation to an indoor gathering is worth the COVID-19 risk. Georgia Tech University scientists developed an interactive map that assesses your risk based on how many people will be in the same room and the level of cases in the county.

On this day, for example, a party in Windham County with 15 people has a 42 percent chance of having at least one COVID-positive person in attendance. If you’re traveling to Berkshire County in Massachusetts, however, the chances of a fellow partier with COVID-19 drops to 17 percent.

“If you must include others, invite only people you trust,” says Keith Grant, Hartford HealthCare‘s Senior Director of Infection Prevention. “Remember that the more people gathered, the higher the risk.”

COVID Alert CT App: Have You Been Near Anyone COVID-Positive?

Connecticut encourages all residents to use the COVID Alert CT app, an anonymous, exposure-notification tool that alerts you if you’ve been close to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. The free app is available to anyone at least 18 years old who lives, works or attends college in the state.

How to get it: Android users can download it from the Google Play Store. If you own an iPhone, no download is necessary. Simply enable it in Settings.

For more information, click here.

How to Get a Vaccine

Anyone in the eligible groups can get vaccinated at a Hartford HealthCare vaccine clinic. An appointment is required to ensure safety. No walk-ins are allowed.

People eligible for a vaccine who already have a MyChartPlus account can log in and make an appointment at a Hartford HealthCare vaccine clinic. If you don’t have a MyChartPlus account, set one up on Hartford HealthCare’s MyChartPlus.org website.

If you’d prefer to schedule your appointment by phone, call the Hartford HealthCare Access Center at 860.827.7690 or toll-free at 833.943.5721.