Vaccines: Providers told not to ask for identification.
Colorado’s public health department on Sunday sent a letter to the hundreds of providers across the state that are vaccinating residents against COVID-19, directing them not to require government IDs or other documentation before people are inoculated.
Medical facilities and local health agencies that do not follow the state’s directive may lose access to their vaccine supply, Scott Bookman, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s COVID-19 incident commander, warned in the letter to the state’s 459 providers.
“It is imperative that individuals are not denied access to the vaccine due to their documentation status or inability to get government-issued identification,” Bookman wrote.
The message to Coloradans, Bookman wrote to the providers, should be: “Whether you are a U.S. citizen or not, we are all in this together. If you would like a vaccine, you will be able to get one according to what vaccine phase you are in.”
State officials say providers — who are now authorized to vaccinate members of the general public 70 and older — can ask a person’s name, date of birth and address, but recommend they operate on an “honor system” with regard to people’s ages rather than asking to see an ID.
Providers should use using their own discretion in determining whether people are eligible to be vaccinated in the current phase of the state’s distribution plan, Bookman wrote.
“Requiring proof of ID, especially a government-issued ID, can exacerbate distrust and accessibility inequities for many critical groups,” Bookman wrote.
“This requirement is a barrier for people who are unable to get identification or have trouble accessing services that issue IDs, such as those who are undocumented, experiencing homelessness, have a disability, or others on the margins of society who are unable to get an ID.”
The state health department also directed all providers to set up direct web links for eligible Coloradans to sign up and register to receive COVID-19 vaccines, and that these sites must be separate from regular patient portals that only are available to people within those systems’ networks.
Providers must also set up “properly staffed” telephone numbers so that Coloradans who don’t have internet access can call to set up appointments.
Both the phone numbers and web links should be set up by Friday, officials said.
“Providers that do not have access to vaccines yet should also establish these channels of communication in preparation for eventually receiving vaccines,” Bookman wrote.