Drive-thru sites to take walk-ins
All six drive-thru mass vaccination sites in Colorado are now taking walk-ins as the state tries to boost flagging demand for shots and COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise.
About one-third of Coloradans are fully vaccinated, and state officials said data is increasingly showing the inoculations are effective at slowing the virus’ spread.
But the number of people receiving the shots each week has fallen since early April. Gov. Jared Polis attributed the drop-off to people taking a wait-and-see approach, or not wanting to deal with the perceived hassle of getting an appointment.
While the number of people who wanted to get vaccinated
initially exceeded the number of appointments available, that’s changed in recent weeks.
“The people that really wanted it have gotten it,” Polis said during a briefing Tuesday. “It’s not a resistance to vaccines issue. It’s a hesitancy or laziness issue.”
There are still disparities in who has gotten the vaccine, with Black and Hispanic Coloradans less likely to be protected than white Coloradans, though the gap has narrowed over time. People of color, in general, are less likely to have internet access to sign up for an appointment or transportation to get to one and are more likely to work in jobs where it’s difficult to take time off for health reasons.
The goal of opening all the mass-vaccination sites — which originally were set up as appointment-only — to walk-ins is to reduce the difficulty of getting a vaccine, Polis said. Three of the sites — in Denver, Pueblo and Loveland — began taking walk-ins last week.
People who don’t have a way of getting to a site can call 211 to find free rides, he said.
Sites accepting walk-ins are:
• Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday
• Ball Arena in Denver, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
• Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Tuesday
• The Ranch Events Complex in Loveland, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday
• Grand Junction Convention Center, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday
• Colorado State Fairgrounds in Pueblo, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day
Jessica Bralish, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said Tuesday that the state is running a campaign to encourage those who haven’t gotten a shot to do so, and those who might have missed their second dose to come back. Centura Health is offering 2,500 appointments on Thursday to people who missed their second Moderna shot or are due and couldn’t get another appointment.
Data has shown that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines remain equally effective when the second shot comes up to six weeks after the first. It’s not completely clear if it’s equally effective after six weeks, but even then, people don’t need to start over again, Bralish said.
The state health department’s records show about 2.8% of people who got one dose of Pfizer or Moderna’s shot in Colorado didn’t get the second, though it’s possible some of them got it outof-state or from a federal agency that doesn’t send records to the state.
That’s lower than the national average of about 8% of people missing their second dose, according to The New York Times, and significantly better than some other multi-shot vaccines. About one-quarter of adults who get their first shot for shingles don’t get the second, and the results are similar for teens getting the HPV vaccine.
Colorado is starting to see more evidence that vaccines are effective at a community level, state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said. Declines in hospitalizations among older people, who were among the first to be vaccinated, showed protection at the individual level. Now, counties with higher vaccination rates have lower cases and hospitalizations, indicating some level of protection for the general community, she said.
It’s unlikely that any counties have reached “herd immunity” — a level of protection where the virus struggles to find new hosts, because so many people are immune, Herlihy said. Community-level protection isn’t like a light switch, turning the pandemic off once a certain percentage of people are vaccinated. Rather, it’s like a dimmer switch, with the size of flare-ups decreasing as more and more people are protected.
Statewide, new cases and hospitalizations keep rising. The state health department reported, as of Tuesday afternoon, 679 people were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID19 — the highest total since Jan. 28. Cases last week also reached their highest levels since mid-January.
More than 9% of tests were positive on Monday, though it’s possible that number could reflect the low number of people who got tested, Polis said. Experts believe that positivity rates above 5% are a warning sign that increasing numbers of cases are going undetected.
“If you haven’t been vaccinated, you are at a very high risk for contracting this virus right now,” Polis said.
The largest amount of transmission seems to be happening in children ages 11 to 18, Herlihy said, with the virus spreading to lesser degrees in younger children and adults. School-based outbreaks are also increasing, she said.
“We did see a little bit of stabilization last week,” she said. “Unfortunately, the numbers are heading the wrong way again.”
The Pfizer vaccine is authorized for anyone who is 16 or older, but the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots are only available to those who are least 18. Children’s Hospital Colorado is going to offer the Pfizer shot to 16- and 17-year-olds at its Aurora and Colorado Springs locations, Polis said.
State law requires most businesses to give employees four hours of paid time off to get vaccinated, Polis said, and to offer sick days while they recover from any side effects. He advised employees to file a complaint with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment if their employers don’t do this.
Two buses are bringing vaccines to mountain communities and the Western Slope this week, and partnerships with organizations in underserved communities to set up clinics will continue, Polis said.
“That’s on us to make it available, then that’s on you to protect yourself, protect your community,” he said.