Can anyone explain why vaccination roll out in Colorado, particularly El Paso and Teller counties is so slow and opaque?
I've been trying to get a vaccination for my 89 year-old mother with no success. I've registered her at the UC Health patient portal and the Optum/Mountain View portal. Both exercises were black holes where her name and telephone number seemed to go nowhere. I called her doctor's office -- Mountain View -- and they seem utterly perplexed about how to get a vaccine. In contrast, my sister in Santa Fe, simply called the pharmacy at Albertsons and scheduled an appointment for her vaccination.
This is an ever-changing situation and every state is handling everything its own way at this point. This method of handling distribution may change now that there are big changes at the national level.
I extracted the following information from the El Paso County Vaccine Dashboard. Most people I know have had the best luck calling Peak Vista.
There is a new vaccine dashboard tracking vaccine distribution in El Paso County, CO. El Paso County, CO is currently administering its limited supply of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to healthcare workers; long-term care facility staff & residents; first responders; and people age 70 and older. To contact providers to find out how you can get vaccinated, see the county web site. When a vaccine may become available to you depends on your healthcare network such as UC Health, Centura, Kaiser Permanente and so on. But the Peak Vista Community Health Center is administering the vaccine to those 70 and older irrespective of their typical medical provider. Because of high demand, it can be difficult to get through to Peak Vista, but if you are 70 or older, you may call 719-344-6500 to schedule a vaccine appointment.
There are active clinical trials in Colorado Springs recruiting adults to be part of testing the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. Among participants, 2/3 will get the real vaccine while 1/3 will get a placebo. This vaccine is of a different type than the approved RNA-based vaccines; it can be stored in a refrigerator and is comprised of COVID-19 spike proteins. Protein subunit vaccines are an older technology and are in common usage to prevent other viral diseases. Novavax has a site explaining the details including a way to check your eligibility and answers to frequently-asked questions. Anyone can drop out of participating in the trial at any time, for example to get a vaccine that already has Emergency Use Authorization should one become available to them.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can be administered to 16-to-17 year olds, but right now we have no vaccine approved for use in children aged 12-16. There are active clinical trials recruiting adolescents aged 12-17 for the Moderna vaccine, and they are having difficulty recruiting enough participants. According to the American Association of Pediatrics, as of December 31, 2020, 179 children have died of COVID-19 in the United States, and 2.3 million children have tested positive for COVID-19. The adolescent trials physically closest to Colorado Springs are in Albuquerque, NM and Oklahoma City, OK. Parents interested in learning more, including whether their adolescents are eligible, can visit the clinical trial recruiting web site. Studies to see if any of the vaccines are safe and effective in children younger than 12 are still in planning stages.
Each state has its own plan for distributing the vaccines, which remain in limited supply. Colorado plans three phases. In El Paso County, CO, Phases 1A and 1B are underway.
· Phase 1A: highest risk healthcare workers; long-term care facility staff & residents
· Phase 1B: other healthcare workers, first responders, and people age 70 and older
· Phase 1C: frontline essential workers, essential state officials, and essential frontline journalists.
Phase 1C frontline essential workers include teachers and people who work in food and agriculture, the postal service, public health, and others. People can read more about the Colorado priorities online, and can see when they personally will be eligible for the vaccine online, too.
So far, El Paso County, CO has administered 33,644 doses. Some of those doses were the first shot someone received while others were the second shot; 7,531 people have received both shots and thus have completed the immunization series. Phase 2 is expected to begin in the spring, with no more definite date available. It will include people aged 60-69; people age 16-59 with health conditions that place them at higher risk of serious consequences if they contract COVID-19, and other essential workers. Phase 3 is expected to begin in summer and is for “the general public.” The pace of vaccination could change due to changes in policy and practice at the federal level.
Has anyone else had better luck locally?