Coloradans 70 and older should receive the COVID-19 vaccine by Feb. 28.
Gov. Jared Polis at a news conference Wednesday outlined the expected vaccination timeline, which has been a source of some confusion after it was updated last week to include more people in the first phase. Added last week to the first phase of distribution, dubbed Phase 1B, are residents 70 and older, teachers, health care workers who don’t work directly with COVID patients, and first responders such police and firefighters, and funeral workers.
This week it was announced that teachers will wait until residents 70 and older and first responders have received vaccinations.
There are an estimated 1.3 million people included in the 1B phase, with more than 30,000 of those being people 70 or older.
Because vaccine supply continues to be limited, it will be months before all individuals in Phase I have the opportunity to receive the vaccine, Boulder County Public Health stated in a news release earlier this week.
The state is working with health care systems to get as many vaccines administered as possible, Polis said. Health care systems, specifically hospitals, are using online portals to identify patients entered into their systems over the last few years, he said.
Patients identified by hospitals will have online access to schedule appointments for vaccines. The identification process is randomized, ignoring a patient’s ability to pay or racial identity, Polis said.
Individuals who have not been in a hospital system are encouraged to visit their local hospital website to find information on how to sign up. In Longmont, individuals can find information about how to get the vaccine at UCHealth, Kaiser Permanente or Longmont United Hospital.
Colorado is receiving 70,000 vaccines each week, according to Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. She estimates that 20% of the 70-year-old and older group will receive vaccines from community partners, 10% will receive them from retail pharmacies and 20% will receive them from federally qualified centers, with the remaining 50% receiving the vaccine from hospitals.
So far, there have been 129,552 vaccines administered throughout Colorado, Polis said.
Polis expects teachers will receive the vaccine beginning in March. Because of the time it takes for full immunity — two weeks after the second dose is administered — Polis said the vaccine will not have a significant impact on schools.
The state from August to December distributed 2.4 million N95 masks to schools in districts who opted into the program, which will continue through the end of the school year, Polis said.
In addition to N95 masks, the state also will provide surgical masks to teachers. Those masks are better than cloth masks but not as good as N95 masks, Polis said.
In an effort to keep children in school, Colorado is one of three states to participate in the BinaxNow home use testing program. This will allow students and staff of public and private schools to receive COVID tests at home in participating districts. Participants who receive a test will be provided telehealth assistance during the testing process. Some districts also can opt to set up testing sites at schools, Polis said.
“When we do all this right, and we have been working with districts to do this, schools are one of the safest work environments for teachers and reasonably safe for students,” Polis said.
