The vaccination process for older Colorado teachers and residents is underway, and more frontline staff and people with multiple chronic health conditions may become eligible to receive their vaccines starting next week, state officials said Tuesday. -market.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment confirmed that the state expects to move to Phase 1B.3 of its COVID-19 vaccination distribution plan “around March 5”, but did not provide details on whether everyone at that stage would make you eligible at the same time.
“Providing accurate and accessible information about vaccines and vaccinations is a priority for Colorado and we will continue to do so as we prepare for the next phases,” wrote a representative from the state’s health department by email.
Governor Jared Polis said a new phase will begin when about half of the people eligible in the previous phase have received the vaccine.
Currently, people in phases 1A, 1B.1 and 1B.2 can be inoculated. This includes anyone aged 65 and over, as well as first responders, residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities and those who work with the public in health care, day care or K-12 education.
The new phase will open up eligibility for what the state is calling “essential frontline workers” in the following industries:
- Food and agriculture (including supermarkets)
- Manufacturing
- US Postal Service
- Public transit
- Public health
- Human services (including services for homeless populations)
- Faith communities
- Journalism
Eligibility will also expand to people with two or more of the following high-risk health conditions:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- Chronic pulmonary obstruction disease
- Diabetes
- Down’s syndrome
- Heart failure, coronary heart disease, cardiomyopathy or severe birth defects in the heart
- Obesity
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell anemia
- Immune system suppressed due to an organ transplant
- Shortcomings that prevent the use of a mask
People with only one of these conditions will be eligible for Phase 2 of the vaccine launch in the state in late spring, along with healthy people aged 60 to 64.
Younger people without an eligibility condition will likely have to wait until summer, when the state reaches Phase 3.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 388,490 people had received both doses of the vaccine and 412,329 had received one dose. State officials have set a goal to vaccinate 70% of the population aged 70 and over by the end of February.