by Donald Eng CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT — A slate of state elected and health officials gathered to talk about vaccine access Wednesday afternoon, but ho much information they actually managed to disburse is an open question.
An anti-vaccine crowd of several dozen, some carrying signs accusing the scientists on the panel of ignoring science and mocking Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani’s appearance, disrupted the session repeatedly.
Despite the group’s complaints that their voices were being stifled, the speakers did not request the Capitol police officers in the meeting room to remove anyone and officers only occasionally asked for decorum as the audience began getting out of hand.
“I think we’re in the middle of confusion right now because the federal government is changing some of the rules,” said state Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, after the event.
An anti-vaccine crowd shouts at Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani during a media briefing at the Legislative Office Building on Sept. 24, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
Anwar, who is a medical doctor and cochairs the legislature’s Public Health Committee, said the prevalence of anti-vaccine voices in Washington, D.C., have turned up the heat in public health discussions, and he fears the rise in measles cases in the country is just the beginning of the impact.
“It (measles cases and vaccine rejection) is directly correlated,” Anwar said, adding that other diseases that vaccines had successfully reduced could also start to return.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted a decline in the rate of vaccinations against illnesses like measles, mumps, rubella (German measles) and pertussis (whooping cough) while measles cases have reached their highest levels in 25 years since being declared eliminated in the United States in 2000.
CDC has reported more than 1,500 measles cases in 42 states, but there have been none in Connecticut, largely due to the state’s high vaccination rates, Anwar said.
“When you have a situation where 99% of people are on board (with vaccinations), the 1% does not represent the majority, and that doesn’t mean that being louder represents the truth,” he said.
Dr. Manisha Juthani, Connecticut’s public health commissioner, speaks at a media briefing at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Sept. 24, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
Juthani, who spoke through jeers and shouts that she was a fascist, a communist, in the pocket of Big Pharma, anti-human, should follow the guidelines of Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is ignoring the efficacy of veterinary antiparasitic drug ivermectin, and is trying to replace God, stressed that the state is “in no way” instituting any sort of vaccine mandate.
“We are looking to reassure those who want to get a vaccine (that they) can still get them,” she said.
Capitol police officers keep watch over an angry crowd of anti-vaccine protesters at a media briefing at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Sept. 24, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
State Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, the Public Health Committee’s other co-chair, also said the gathering was about ensuring vaccines remain available and affordable. She praised the cooperation of elected officials, health leaders and scholars in helping spread that message.
“Vaccines are safe and effective,” she said. “Together, we are doing 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.”
House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, also pushed back on a pair of talking points from the crowd.
“Vaccines are not dangerous,” he said. “They are not political. They are a critical tool to keeping our communities safe.”