COVID-19 HHRC Update: Vaccination Process
December 31, 2020
Information shared from Grand Country Public Health https://www.co.grand.co.us/COVID19
Vaccination Process
Grand County Public Health (GCPH) and the Grand County COVID-19 Vaccine Team are working under the direction of Governor Polis and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to prioritize COVID-19 Vaccine to our community, to meet the goals of preventing death and decreasing infection rates among our community members. The Governor has provided a very structured format of vaccine administration. On December 22, GCPH received 100 doses. 90 doses have been administered within a 7 day period. On December 29, GCPH received an additional 200 doses to continue distributing vaccinations. Grand County is in the final stages of Phase 1A and begins looking toward the early stages of administering populations in Phase 1B.
The Grand County COVID-19 Vaccine Team will be focusing current and future efforts on the prioritized phase definitions, which can be found at www.co.grand.co.us/vaccine. GCPH will not be able to move below the “dotted line” of the phase 1B population until given specific direction from Governor Polis and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. Providing vaccine to non-authorized populations at this time will result in the penalty of being denied further vaccine delivery to vaccinate the Grand County community. The “dotted line” splits Phase 1B in half as indicated below.
The first part of 1B (above the “dotted line”) includes:
- Health care workers with less direct contact with COVID-19 patients (e.g. home health, mental health providers, pharmacy, dental, social workers, etc.) and EMS.
- Firefighters, law enforcement, COVID-19 response personnel, correctional workers, and funeral services.
- People age 70 and older.
The second part of 1B (below the “dotted line”) includes:
- Frontline essential workers in education, food and agriculture, manufacturing, U.S. postal service, public transit and specialized transportation staff, grocery, and direct care providers for Coloradans experiencing homelessness.
- Essential officials from executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government.
- Essential frontline journalists.
Our efforts are to vaccinate all populations in the timeline outlined and in as expedited manner as possible. Please know that when we receive direction to vaccinate a specific population, GCPH will reach out to set up those vaccinations. There is not a timeline to give you as to when this will happen.
As the COVID-19 Vaccine rules change on a moment’s notice, here are a few things to remember:
- GCPH is adjusting plans, in real-time, as State priorities change or are adjusted.
- COVID-19 Vaccine logistics are a massive undertaking with limited staff resources and availability
- All Vaccine Providers signed an agreement to meet all criteria, or potentially have future vaccine shipments stopped.
Here are a few things GCPH has to consider in the scheduling and administration of the COVID-19 Vaccine:
- Vials of the vaccine contain 10 doses. Once a vial is punctured the 10 doses must be given within a 6 hour period, or doses will be wasted.
- Persons who are ill with a fever should not be vaccinated.
- Any person with a history of anaphylaxis to a vaccine will be referred to the primary care provider to consult before the vaccine is administered.
- Persons with multiple food &/or drug allergies may be referred to their primary care provider. (Please let us know ahead of time. GCPH will assess and triage these persons.)
In order to ensure that GCPH has committed individuals for each Phase of the distribution process, we have developed a Vaccine Registration Form for individuals who are not already being provided access to the vaccine through their employers. The Vaccine Registration Form will be available next Thursday, January 7 at www.co.grand.co.us/vaccine .
