Colorado expects first doses of COVID-19 vaccine in about 10 days, local health officials say

Local public health officials expect Colorado to receive Pfizer’s first batch of COVID-19 vaccine in about 10 days, pending federal approval, and the state is estimated to acquire between 47,000 and 150,000 doses through this initial shipment.

The first doses of the vaccine, whose use has not yet been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, will go to hospitalized workers. There will likely be a delay of several days before the vaccines are administered, as providers will have to wait for federal approval, said Karen Miller, immunization nurse in the Tri-County Department of Health.

Miller estimated that there are between 10 and 15 centers in Colorado that have the capacity to store Pfizer vaccine at the required ultra-cold temperatures, and said those vendors would help others distribute the vaccines. The vaccine can be refrigerated for five days.

Tri-County Health, which serves Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties, has been told by state health officials that if Pfizer’s vaccine is approved, the county can expect to receive the first doses between Dec. 11 and 14, Miller said.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment told Boulder County Public Health that hospitals in its area could receive doses of the vaccine on December 12, spokeswoman Chana Goussetis said on Wednesday.

Larimer County also expects the first batch on December 12, followed by a second shipment later in December, the Loveland Reporter-Herald reported.

“We’re excited to release this vaccine,” Larimer County Public Health Director Tom Gonzales told county commissioners at a meeting Tuesday. “The vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel.”

The State Department of Public Health and Environment said in a statement that it expects the vaccine “in the next few weeks,” but that it does not have a confirmed date for its release. arrival.

“The CDC has announced it will allocate doses to states by population and notified Colorado that we should expect 1.69% of the CDC’s weekly allocations,” the agency said in an email.

Tri-County Health’s 47,000 to 150,000 doses were told the state expects to receive are lower than the estimate proposed by Governor Jared Polis last month. After Pfizer announced that data from late stage trials showed its vaccine to be over 90% effective in preventing COVID-19, the governor estimated the state could receive between 100,000 and 200,000 doses before the end of the year.

Colorado is expected to receive weekly shipments after the first few doses, but it’s unclear how many doses they will contain. Follow-up mailings will also include doses for the second shot, which is needed three weeks after the first dose to make the vaccine effective, Miller said.

As part of Colorado’s proposed vaccine distribution plan, the first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will go to hospital workers, including long-term care facilities. Healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes are also considered a high priority by a federal advisory committee, which voted on Tuesday on who should receive the first doses.