An illustration of the new coronavirus COVID-19. Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.

Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday his administration is considering further easing of COVID restrictions and expanding the capacity of private, social, and recreational events at commercial venues. Such a change could take place on March 19, assuming the state’s infection numbers are good.

Indoor capacity at such venues would be at 50 percent, capped at 100 people, while capacity would be limited outdoors to up to 200 people.

“Event planners tell us you need time to plan. So that’s why we’re giving you a month to plan this,” Lamont said. “And I know you want some guarantees (so) we can have a big wedding in July. I can’t give you any guarantees, but right now the trends are good.”

Before getting his first vaccine dose, Lamont on Tuesday joined with Black leaders to urge people of color to get vaccinated, as data show inoculation rates among minorities are much lower than those of whites.

He appeared at a news conference with Black political, religious and medical community leaders who tried to reassure people that the vaccine is safe and pleaded with them to get shots, amid skepticism of the vaccine and a long-held distrust in the medical community by many Black and Latino residents.

That distrust in the government and the medical community is often linked to the Tuskegee experiment, in which Black men in Alabama were left untreated for syphilis as part of a study that ran from the 1930s into the ’70s.

Lamont said the state is stepping up its efforts to get minorities vaccinated and bridge the racial divide, including working with Black churches and sending dozens of mobile vaccination teams into underserved communities.