FEMA Awards Nearly $15 Million to Connecticut for COVID Vaccination, Testing Costs

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending almost $15 million to the State of Connecticut to reimburse it for the cost of providing COVID-19 tests and vaccinations to the public during the pandemic.

Two Public Assistance grants totaling $14,860,088 will go to the Connecticut Department of Public Health for paying vendors to provide COVID-19 vaccinations and testing to the general public.

One grant of $4,351,028 will provide federal funding for contracting with an outside company to administer 56,400 COVID-19 tests to the public between July 2021 and June 2022, as well as associated costs including pop-up canopy tents, portable folding A-frame sidewalk signs, electronic equipment, portable restrooms, and cell phones.

A second grant of $10,509,060 will reimburse the Department of Public Health for contracting with a company to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to the public via a system of mobile clinics and fixed vaccination sites. A total of 92,052 vaccines were administered between November 2021 and June 2022.

“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist to the State of Connecticut with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Reimbursing state, county, and municipal governments – as well as eligible non-profits and tribal entities – for the costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic is an important part of our nation’s ongoing recovery.”

FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.

So far, FEMA has provided more than $906 million in Public Assistance grants to Connecticut to reimburse the state for pandemic-related expenses.