December 2020

COLORADO'S COVID-19 VACCINE PLAN

Today, Governor Polis and state officials discussed distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and provided an update on the response to the pandemic. The Governor was joined by Scott Bookman, Incident Commander for the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment, Brigadier General Scott Sherman, Director of the Joint Vaccine Task Force - Colorado National Guard, and Joni Reynolds, Gunnison County Public Health Director.

The State of Colorado’s focus when creating this plan was to ensure that we:

Save the most lives; and
End the crisis as soon as possible, which means prioritizing our most at-risk health care workers and individuals.

The State has been carefully planning this process, working closely with local public health agencies and engaging with providers and communities to prepare for the day when the vaccine would be approved for distribution and arrive in Colorado.

The Governor thanked everyone who provided input on Colorado’s phased distribution plan, from state and local public health officials to community organizations.

COLORADO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES VACCINE EXERCISE

This week, the Colorado Unified Coordination Center completed an exercise to test its ability to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine to a distribution facility from Denver International Airport.

In a four hour end-to-end exercise, the vaccine departed from Denver International Airport where it was loaded onto a secure vehicle and driven to Vail Health, one of several distribution centers across the state.

The training allowed simultaneous trainings to take place:

Colorado Unified Coordination Center, CDPHE and CDPS staff focused on the hand-to-hand transport of the vaccine, experiencing each logistical milestone.
The Vaccine Task Force conducted a tabletop exercise to game out problematic scenarios such as disruptions to transportation routes.

PHASE DISTRIBUTION PRIORITIES

From both a national and global perspective, distributing the COVID-19 vaccine is the biggest undertaking in the history of humankind.

Colorado’s vaccine prioritization plan has three phases:

Phase 1A (Winter): Highest-risk health care workers and individuals:
People who have direct contact with COVID-19 patients for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.
Long-term care facility staff and residents.

Phase 1B (Winter): Moderate-risk health care workers and responders:
Health care workers with less direct contact with COVID-19 patients.
Workers in home health/hospice, and dental settings.
EMS, firefighters, police, correctional workers, dispatchers, funeral services, COVID-19 response personnel, and other first responders.

Phase 2 (Spring): Higher-risk individuals and essential workers:
People age 65 or older.
People of any age with obesity, diabetes, chronic lung disease, significant heart disease, chronic kidney disease, cancer, or are immunocompromised.
People who interact directly with the public at work, such as grocery store workers and school staff.
People who work in high-density settings like farms and meat-packing plants.
Workers serving people who live in high-density settings.
Other health care workers not covered in Phase 1.
Adults who received a placebo during a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial.

Phase 3 (Summer): The general public:
Anyone age 18-64 without high-risk conditions.

The majority of Phase 1 early recipients will receive the vaccine through their employer, local public health agency, or through the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care (LTC) Program if they are residents of a long-term care center. More information about provider settings and options for Phase 2 and Phase 3 recipients will be coming soon.

🔗 For helpful resources, please visit the following links:

VACCINE DISTRIBUTION

Director Joni Reynolds provided an update today on the role of local public health agencies (LPHAs) in vaccine planning and distribution. LPHAs are working with the State Health Department, Vaccine Task Force, and community leaders to ensure that vaccine distribution is as efficient and effective as possible.

Due to highly collaborative efforts, all doses will be free, and over time, every county will have access.

Colorado makes up about 1.69% of the U.S. population, and each week the state expects to receive 1.69% of the available vaccines to begin distributing vaccines this year and into 2021.

There are two different COVID-19 vaccines that will be distributed; the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine:

The Pfizer vaccine is two doses taken 21 days apart and is 95% effective; we will start receiving shipments of this vaccine in December.
Last week: The State placed our first order for 46,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
The Moderna vaccine is also two doses, but it is taken 28 days apart and 94.5% effective; it will begin to arrive in December as well.
This week: The first order will be placed for 95,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
Both vaccines are more effective than the flu vaccine and comparable to the efficacy rate of the measles component of the MMR vaccine.

Initially, this is the maximum number of doses that we will receive. Given the limited number of vaccines we will receive early on, we are hopeful to get through Phase 1 by the end of winter.

Additionally, Colorado will require all COVID-19 vaccination providers to report administered doses to the Colorado Immunization Information System (CIIS) within 72 hours of vaccine administration to ensure not one dose goes to waste.

REMAIN VIGILANT

This vaccine is the gateway to a life without this crisis. However, due to limited resources, it will take time until all six million Coloradans can access it.

That means we can’t stop doing what we know works to slow the spread of this virus:

Wear a mask.
Stay at least six feet away from others in public.
Don’t gather with anyone outside of your household.

As Governor Polis has said before, this is a marathon, not a sprint. The only way we are going to get over the finish line is by continuing to follow the safety guidelines put in place to protect ourselves and others against this virus.

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