Data: Minority impact still out of proportion

State: Grocery workers among next in line for COVID-19 vaccine

As Gov. Jared Polis announced the next vaccination phase, Boulder County shared data that shows its Hispanic/latino community continues to be dispropor tionately impacted. Meanwhile, Boulder County on Friday repor ted 63 new coronavirus cases, but no new deaths.

Polis announced in a Friday news conference that current agriculture and grocery store workers are among the next in line to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, as the state gears up to begin inoculating people in the 1B.3 category, starting March 5.

The 1B.3 categor y also includes Coloradans 60 and older and Coloradans 16 to 59 with two or more comorbidities, according to a news release about the announcement.

By late March, Polis said Coloradans aged 50 and up will be

able to get the vaccine, along with those in studentfacing roles in higher education and other frontline workers, including restaurant and food ser vice workers, bus drivers, U.S Postal Ser vice workers, and manufacturing workers, according to the release.

Disparity continues

While the Hispanic/latino community makes up roughly 14% of Boulder County’s population, almost 40% of hospitalizations and nearly 18% of the deaths involved members of that community, according to Thursday data from Boulder County Public Health.

In a statement in April, when the disparity was first reported, Boulder County Public Health Executive Director Jeff Zayach emphasized that the virus doesn’t discriminate, impacting people of every age and ethnicity.

“At the hear t of these disparities is systemic racism, which we know from research produces institutional barriers to things like preventive medical care, healthy food, safe and stable housing, quality education, reliable transportation, and clean air. These barriers negatively impact a person’s health outcome,” Zayach said in the statement.

Zayach said in April that the data would be used to focus prevention efforts.

Angela Simental, Boulder County Public Health’s acting communications manager, said that the disparity scale has changed over time, with a large disparity in cases in May 2020, and a large disparity in hospitalizations in June 2020.

“It appears that in times where cases are highest, disparities for the Hispanic/latino community rose as well,” Simental wrote in an email.

Simental said that in January, the relative risk of COVID-19 infection was 2.2 times higher and hospitalization was 2.7 times higher among Hispanic and Latino residents, as compared to white, non-hispanic residents. So far in February, Simental said, the relative risk of COVID infection has stayed steady at 2.3 and the relative risk of hospitalization has also remained similar at 2.8.

Since Nov. 1, there have been 3,421 Hispanic and Latino residents who have tested positive, as of Thursday.

In the same time frame, there have been 5,292 white, non-hispanic residents who have tested positive. People who are white, non-hispanic, make up nearly 78% of the population; roughly 76% of deaths and 54% of hospitalizations, according to Boulder County Public Health data.

Polis said Friday that equitable vaccine distribution is a “top priority” for

Colorado.

“The state is moving to a new phase next week of the vaccine prioritization plan where more doses of this lifesaving vaccine will be available to most vulnerable communities,” he stated in the release. “I’m focused on ensuring that Coloradans who are at the most risk of COVID due to the environment they work in can receive the vaccine, so we can save more lives and end this pandemic.”

Weather impacts vaccine supply

Boulder County Public Health also reported that vaccine supply dropped this week by roughly 560 doses, compared to last week, due to the recent cold weather across the country. Simental said that local vaccine providers received about 7,300 vaccine doses last week, while about 6,740 were received this week.

The number of cases reported Friday brings the county’s total to 18,842, according to Boulder County Public Health. The number of deaths remained at 246. As of Thursday, there were 26 people in Boulder County hospitals, due to COVID-19. There have been a total of 547 hospitalizations. The seven-day average percent positivity was 2.6%.

The University of Colorado Boulder reported two positive tests during testing Thursday, according to the campus’ online dashboard. There were also 132 diagnostic tests and 1,448 monitoring tests. Ten on-campus isolation spaces were in use, which is 2% of the university’s total isolation space. Since Jan. 4, there have been 328 positive results; 5,405 diagnostic tests and 34,257 monitoring tests.

Boulder Valley School District reported 21 active cases and 276 quarantines among 238 students and 38 staff, according to the district’s coronavirus dashboard.

In the St. Vrain Valley School District there are 35 active cases among 25 students and 10 staff, the district’s dashboard showed. Since the star t of the school year, there have been 848 cases among 618 students and 230 staff.

Statewide, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported 426,198 cases. Among cases there have been 5,940 deaths, and of those, there have been 5,874 deaths due to COVID19. There have been 23,438 people hospitalized. Of Colorado’s more than 5.7 million population, there have been 2,565,792 people who have been tested.