Kasturi Pananjady and Jenna Carlesso // CTMirror.org

Bristol Health approved 46 applications for COVID-19 vaccine exemptions this year, 39 of which were granted on religious grounds. It also granted 26 exemptions for the flu vaccine this year, 23 of which were granted on religious grounds. In short: Bristol has approved nearly twice as many religious exemptions for the COVID vaccine as it has for the flu vaccine.Unlike businesses in other industries, all hospitals in the state have the unique ability to look to flu vaccinations as a point of comparison in exemption applications and approvals. In 2011, the Connecticut Hospital Association recommended that hospitals adopt flu vaccine mandates, and all Connecticut hospitals have a flu vaccine mandate in place, said spokesperson Jill McDonald Halsey.