COVID vaccine begins to be administered locally

COVID-19 vaccines have begun to be administered in northeast Colorado. The Northeast Colorado Health Department conducted its first COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Washington County Dec. 28.

The turnout for the point of dispensing, or POD, consisted of 20 frontline health care workers and first responders who were given their first dose of the vaccine. The POD is expected to be the first of many to come in northeast Colorado, according to a press release from NCHD.

All of the recipients of the vaccine at the POD were observed for 15 minutes after receiving the vaccine, and none experienced reactions or side effects.

The vaccine administered at the POD was the newly approved Moderna COVID-19 vaccine which, like the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, is part of a two-dose series. Recipients will be getting the second dose 28 days after the first.

NCHD has been planning the implementation of PODs since the summer, advising that it will still likely be a few more months before the vaccine will be available to the general public.

Until then, NCHD urges people to continue to wear a mask, social distance, wash hands and limit the size of gatherings.

Jennifer Cano, RN, BSN, infection preventionist at Melissa Memorial Hospital, said MMH received Moderna COVID-19 vaccines Dec. 29.

Phase 1A of administering the vaccine in Holyoke was scheduled to begin Monday, Jan. 4.

Those eligible to receive the vaccine in Phase 1A include 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, and long-term care facility staff and residents.

Phase 1B includes Coloradans age 70 and older, moderate-risk health care workers, first responders, frontline essential workers and continuity of state government.

This phase includes frontline essential workers in education, food and agriculture, manufacturing, U.S. postal service, public transit and specialized transportation staff, grocery, public health and direct care providers for Coloradans experiencing homelessness. Essential officials from executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government and essential frontline journalists are also included in this phase.

After Phases 1A and 1B, Phase 2 is expected to start in the spring. This phase includes people 65-69, other essential workers and continuity of local government, people 16-64 with certain conditions or who are immunocompromised, and adults who received a placebo during a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial.

Phase 3 is set to begin in the summer, and it includes anyone 16-64 without high-risk conditions.

Cano said Northeast Colorado Health Department has been very supportive, and there have been many coordination calls held to make sure this process goes well.

Cano went on to say that once the vaccine becomes available for the population of people 70 and over, MMH will be sure to let people know through social media and other means. She said that people who fall into the 70 and older population and want the vaccine can call the Family Practice of Holyoke at 970-854-2500 to be added to the list for the vaccine when it is available.

Cano also noted that the vaccine is voluntary and MMH staff are not required to get it.

National supplies of the vaccine are limited, and Colorado is only receiving an average of 65,000 doses of the vaccine weekly, which must be allocated to providers in all 64 counties, according to NCHD.

NCHD urges patience and points out that information will be provided regarding when and how to sign up for vaccination clinics that NCHD will be holding in counties in northeast Colorado.

For more information on the vaccine in Colorado, visit https://covid19.colorado.gov/vaccine.