DENVER – While Wednesday’s announcement by Governor Jared Polis that Coloradans aged 70 and over will be included in Phase 1B of the vaccine distribution plan was news welcomed by many seniors, it also came as a surprise to local public health departments not ready yet to distribute to the wider group.
Several public health departments in the state said they had not been made aware of the changes in the vaccine groups prior to the announcement Wednesday morning and that they would have to answer calls and emails from people in their counties wondering when and where they could be vaccinated. but were unable to answer those questions.
Surprise and confusion among health departments, seniors about the introduction of vaccines to Colorado 70+
“I would say I got emails about 5 minutes after the announcement and we’ve gotten hundreds of emails and phone calls since then,” said Chana Goussetis, a Boulder County Public Health spokesperson.
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Goussetis said the department was trying to answer every email and phone call one by one, but a plan was in the works to include the people in the updated Phase 1B and hopefully be released next week.
“But we haven’t quite figured that out yet and we also have to ask people to be patient. We don’t currently have the stock of vaccine for everyone, so it will take a while, ”she said.
The vaccine shortage not yet explained in many Colorado counties is one of the reasons local public health departments such as Boulder County and Jefferson County say they are not yet ready to begin distribution to the wider group, despite hopes of Policy Wednesday that the broader group could potentially all get their first vaccines in the next 4-5 weeks.
Jefferson County Public Health said Wednesday night that it continues to prioritize vaccination for health professionals and first responders, and that limited amounts of the vaccine meant that they were not yet entering expanded stage 1B and still in the planning stages.
“As those plans evolve, we will communicate them to our Jefferson County community and to key groups next step towards vaccination, including those 70 and older,” JCPH said in a statement.
Summit County announced Wednesday ahead of the governor’s announcement that it would vaccinate people aged 75+, but changed that group to 70+ to be in line with the state following the announcement. But they have excess vaccine doses and planned ahead of time to vaccinate seniors on a faster timeline.
“Summit County has received hundreds more doses of Moderna vaccine than originally anticipated, and we are pleased to offer our residents in one of the highest risk categories the opportunity to receive the vaccine to protect themselves this week,” said Summit County Director public health Amy Wineland.
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Health officials there had more than 800 doses every other day Wednesday, but say they will need more shipments before they can vaccinate the province’s roughly 3,000 people aged 70+ who want to be vaccinated.
In Eagle County, only county residents 70 and older are allowed to receive the vaccine. Three clinics are scheduled for next week – Thursday in Eagle, Friday in El Jebel and Saturday in Edwards – where people can be vaccinated. The province will start scheduling appointments on Monday.
First-line law enforcement officers and firefighters were vaccinated in Denver this week. The city said it is working with Safeway Pharmacies to vaccinate health workers and first responders in phases 1A and 1B and would work with the state to coordinate the vaccination of the wider 1B group and the next two phases.
Grand County said it is in the final phase of Phase 1A and will soon begin work on the first part of Phase 1B – health workers, first responders, and people over the age of 70. The county said it wouldn’t begin the second part of Phase 1B – which includes key workers, key government employees, and key frontline journalists – until it gets specific guidance from the governor’s office and CDPHE.
The Delta County Health Department said Thursday that it is still in Phase 1A and would begin Phase 1B once they complete 1A.
In Boulder County, Goussetis said the new additions to Phase 1B amount to about 30,000 more people who could potentially be vaccinated and vaccine stocks were way behind that.
“So it’s still going to take us quite a few months to get the vaccine into the arms of all people for stage 1,” she said.
Polis and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said the timeframe for getting Phase 1 recipients vaccinated depends on the federal supply chain remaining on track, but Colorado and other states have sometimes received fewer vaccines than they expected.
‘We just never really know exactly how many vaccines we will receive. We don’t know exactly when we’ll get them, so it’s very difficult to set up clinics to get people vaccinated if we don’t know how much we’ll get, ”said Goussetis.
She advised people not to call their pharmacy to try and find out more about when they could get vaccinated. The pharmacies also don’t know yet.
The CDPHE includes, in addition to people aged 70 and above, frontline and essential workers and government employees in 1B. The department said in a press release Wednesday that it expects to have “vaccinated the majority of Phase 1A health workers” by January 15.
The CDPHE said it is “coordinating with local public health authorities, health care providers, pharmacies and various community partners” to distribute the vaccine through Phase 1. Some in the group will be vaccinated through their employer, public health agency, a vaccine supplier. or through a federal long-term care partnership program.
“For individuals who do not receive a vaccine through any of these options, the state is actively working with local public health agencies to determine which additional health care providers will vaccinate members of the 1A and 1B groups. Several provinces plan to run mass vaccination clinics for members of their communities. In the coming days and as more information becomes definitive, we will publish additional vaccine distribution locations on the state website, ”the CDPHE said in Wednesday’s publication.
Denver Health said it has swift plans to “vaccinate as many people as possible in the expanded group in the coming weeks,” and said priority would be given to patients 70 and older who have been medically at a Denver Health facility within the past few weeks. three years.
“We hope to begin vaccinating these high-priority individuals immediately and will be contacting patients and staff with more information on when and where they can be scheduled during the week of January 4. Our accelerated efforts will likely include offering vaccinations on the Denver Health campus, in our community centers and using our mobile health clinics, ”Denver Health said in a statement.
Centura Health said it is in the process of notifying 1B recipients, finalizing the clinics they will be working with, and doubling the shot clinic’s capacity. The company said it would invite over-70s to get vaccinated via their Centura account and email. Centura said they will choose a list of patients who are eligible for the group and a computer will randomize who gets the vaccine first.
UCHealth said it had begun providing vaccines to a limited number of seniors 75 and older because it has a limited number of vaccines, but it will expand soon. People aged 70 and over. The company said it will also send messages to customers’ My Health Connection accounts that allow them to schedule an appointment. But they told people to remain patient.
“Invitations are randomly sent to those in this age group through the patient’s electronic medical record portal known as My Health Connection,” the company said. “While the supply of coronavirus vaccines for older adults is still very limited and insufficient to vaccinate everyone at this time, the random selection and nomination process helps ensure that the process is safe, secure and fair for everyone. Plans are also being developed to offer vaccines to disadvantaged populations and those who do not have a My Health Connection account. “
Several Coloradans who are nearly 70 or older expressed frustration at the lack of clarity as to when they could be vaccinated.
“You told me I can get this vaccination, but you don’t tell me how and you don’t tell me when,” said Mitch Cannon, 73, who said he didn’t help the state’s COHELP hotline and vaccination sites. found.
“They couldn’t tell you much about everything and it’s all pre-recorded,” added Cannon.
Tim Gognat, a 69-year-old Lakewood resident who will be turning 70 in the spring and says he has pre-existing conditions, said he spent the morning on the phone calling his doctor and another before calling the hotline.
“It took me 30 minutes to wait to get in touch with someone there. They didn’t have any guidance, or they couldn’t provide a place for me to go or inquire about the vaccine, ”he said. “So there seems to be quite a bit of confusion about availability and timing.”
“It would be very important if the office of the governor and public health officials would clear things up with the news organizations and the general public. It would avoid a lot of confusion and a lot of wasted effort, ”Gognat added.
In an interview with Denver7 Thursday, Governor Polis told people to be patient and stick to his 4-5 week timeline to get the group of over 70s vaccinated with their first dose.
“I know that no one wants to be patient; we all want this now, right? Your provider will contact you when the opportunity arises to make an appointment. But see, if you’re over 70, you can get this in four to five weeks, ”said Polis. “… I know it’s hard to be patient, and days are important because you want to be with your grandchildren, your family, you want to go out. But we get through the whole group of 70 and up in 4 to 5 weeks. “
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