29.03.2024

Providers Aim To Speed Up Vaccine Rollout

Denver officials plan to host vaccine clinics later this month with the goal of vaccinating as many as 10,000 people each day. Officials said the clinics will look similar to the mass testing site earlier in the pandemic outside Ball Arena.

More than 400 Colorado vaccine providers have administered 253,422 COVID-19 vaccine doses as of Wednesday afternoon. Of those vaccines, 209,377 were first doses and 43,974 were second doses.

Colorado is currently in Phase 1A and 1B of the vaccine rollout. Gov. Jared Polis said the state aims to vaccinate 70% of Coloradans 70 years and older by Feb. 28.

The state is allocating the following percentage of the vaccine supply to each type of provider:

  • 50% – Hospitals
  • 20% – Federally Qualified Health Partners
  • 20% – Community Partners and Local Public Health Agencies
  • 10% – Retail Pharmacies

Colorado officials expect to receive about 70,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses each week through January from the federal government.

“The State remains hopeful that the incoming administration will send more doses for states to administer while providers work to increase their capacity to administer the vaccine to their patients,” stated Polis’ office.

Major healthcare systems also plan to expand access to vaccines for Coloradans age 70 and older. Centura Health hopes to increase weekly vaccinations from 9,000 this week to more than 22,000 by the end of February.

“Health systems, including Centura Health, are ready and capable of scaling our operations to vaccinate all those who need a vaccine. We are thrilled to partner with the State and other health providers to make mass vaccination possible across Colorado, ” said Peter D. Banko, President & CEO of Centura Health.

UCHealth is focusing on providing a second dose of vaccinations to health care workers and vaccinating people 70 and older. The hospital system has administered more than 52,000 vaccines.

“We are beyond proud to vaccinate Colorado, and we are prepared to do so. We are ready to put COVID-19 in our rearview mirror,” said Dr. Richard Zane, UCHealth Chief Innovation Officer and Chair of Emergency Medicine at the CU School of Medicine.

Salud Family Health Centers has administered 4,480 doses of the vaccine along with vaccine clinics in all 10 of the communities they serve. The Federally Qualified Community Health Center can vaccinate up to 1,200 people per day, officials said.

“We are stepping up to vaccinate as many people as possible as we can in the communities we serve. We will continue to be there for the state of Colorado and look forward to helping out in any way we can,” said John Santistevan, President & CEO of Salud Family Health Centers.

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