Emergency center to handle vaccine rollout

Denver will reopen its emergency operations center to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine and starting next week will allow 500 businesses to apply for more eased restrictions, Mayor Michael Hancock announced Thursday.

The emergency operations center — first opened in March — will handle the logistics for vaccine distribution, including ensuring the shots are given out equitably, Hancock said.

Already the state’s vaccine rollout has left many elderly residents frustrated, and early data show Coloradans of color are receiving their vaccine shots less than their white peers.

Denver’s public health director, Bob McDonald, said six or seven outreach teams will put a particular focus on at-risk populations, including vaccinating people experiencing homelessness.

“We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Hancock said, adding that states are expecting a 16% increase in supply of vaccine doses. “But we have a lot, a lot — I mean a lot — of work to do in the coming months.”

The emergency operations center will open next week, said Matt Mueller, director of Denver’s Office of Emergency Management, and immediately will seek community partners to get the vaccine in areas of the city that need it the most. It will provide residents with “clear and consistent” information on the process.

Currently the city receives about 8,000 vaccine doses from the state each week, which McDonald said is not enough. Hancock said he has asked President Joe Biden’s administration to give new doses directly to Denver rather than having to go through the state; right now, the state decides who can be vaccinated and when, McDonald said.

As Denver receives more vaccines, McDonald said his teams can innoculate more health care workers, first responders and people over 70.

Asking for local control is the right call, said Sandy Johnson, director of the University of Denver’s global health affairs

program.

“(Denver officials) know their city, and in most areas what I’ve seen is that they’re smart enough to realize where their government offices can’t reach, their community organizations can,” Johnson said.

Johnson also believes the emergency operations center can streamline local vaccination rollout and, just as importantly, maximize community outreach. But she said Denver needs federal money to keep it going.

“We are at war with ignorance, and we are at war with the disease,” Johnson said. “You need that central command, and you need the resources for it.”

Unlike some members of the legislature, Hancock has not been vaccinated, and he won’t until he is eligible, spokesman Michael Strott said.

Only Councilman Paul Kashmann has received his first vaccine dose because he is over 70 and eligible, City Council Administrator Stacy Simonet said, adding Kashmann will get his second one in early February.

Denver is averaging fewer than 350 positive cases per 100,000 residents, and trending downward, but McDonald said it’s still far too early to discuss herd immunity.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” McDonald said.

If the city maintains its current pace for the next week, it can begin easing restrictions for some businesses through the state’s 5 Star Certification Program, McDonald said. At 10 a.m. Tuesday, Denver will begin accepting applications at denverfivestar.org, but there’s space for only 500 businesses in the first phase of the program.

Once audited by city inspectors and approved for 5 Star status, businesses can go up to 50% capacity, based on the current Level Orange restrictions. And restaurants will be able to serve alcohol an hour later, until 11 p.m.

The program is a “game changer,” said Eric Hiraga, executive director of Denver’s Office of Economic Development. And Katie Lazor, executive director of local restaurant nonprofit EatDenver, says many of her member businesses are “ready to go” come Tuesday morning.

“Everything that we’ve all been doing is so reactive and so short-term, but this is the first thing that’s (focused on) medium- to long-term recovery,” Lazor said.

Applications likely will come in a “mad rush,” Lazor said. Then it’s a waiting game, since case levels will need to stay within the Level Orange range for a week or decline before city auditors can inspect and certify businesses.

“It’s good to see that they’re trying to move as fast as possible and be proactive,” Lazor said of city officials.

“There’s always a risk in reopening and investing in getting things back up and running,” she added. “I know there’s folks that are still nervous there might be another spike or another closure.”

The 5 Star program is meant to show customers that a business is at least taking maximum precautions gainst the virus.

The public will see a window decal on certified storefronts and be asked for information to be used in contact tracing. Plus employees will be more closely monitored for changes in their health each day, and sanitization and ventilation will be more regulated.