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As Colorado officials continue to plan for an increase in vaccinations following the planned emergency use clearance of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, they are also closely monitoring the COVID-19 variant in the state.
Colorado has seen a plateau in its number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations after dropping about three months from a peak in November. The state reported that the positivity rate was just over 3% on Tuesday. The hospitalization rate also continues to decline statewide – on Wednesday 376 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, said chief medical officer Dr Eric France of the Department of Public Health and the Colorado environment.
READ MORE: When and where can you get the COVID-19 vaccine? Here are the answers to your vaccine questions
As the CDPHE examines these numbers, it is also thinking of the COVID-19 variants, he said.
Some research currently shows that the variant can become the dominant strain by March and April.
About one in 200 Coloradans as of Thursday has COVID-19 and only a very small percentage of those who have tested positive for the variant, France said.
“So there could be a spring push in April if this variant starts to develop,” he said. “We haven’t seen that at this point. Our hope is that the right behaviors and practices of each of us – keeping a distance, wearing masks – will keep these variant numbers low for our state. “
These practices have also helped reduce influenza numbers. The flu season has been significantly milder than in previous years and flu-related hospitalizations have been low, France said. Flu vaccination rates have also increased by 13%, he said. This reduced flu rate means there is a low volume of disease in clinics and hospitals, so one can focus more on people with COVID-19.
CDPHE Vaccine Deployment Update – February 25, 2021
On Thursday morning, the state said it was 95% off its goal of vaccinating 70% of people aged 70 and over by the end of the month, said Kate McIntire, deputy director of State Vaccine. Task Force. She said 1,320,517 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Colorado, including the first and second doses. Of these, 883,137 were first doses and 437,380 were second doses for phases 1A, 1B.1 and 1B.2.
The state is now considering Phase 1B.3, which includes essential workers in services such as agriculture, manufacturing, the U.S. Postal Service, transit, specialty transportation, groceries, public health and Restaurants. Click here to see the full list and an overview of the other phases.
For several weeks, the CDPHE has declared its it was planned to start phase 1B.3 in early March and that remains the goal, McIntire said.
She explained that they don’t have a specific timeline for when this next phase begins, but will announce it as soon as they can. That could change depending on the state’s vaccine supply from the federal government, which is expected to increase next week.
McIntire said they were bracing for various scenarios as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine nears release and delivery nationwide. An FDA report released Wednesday indicates that Johnson & Johnson’s single-injection COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, paving the way for its potential approval and distribution in the coming days.
The federal government has said Colorado should expect 45,000 doses of the vaccine. The allocated doses will be delivered to providers, as will the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine will likely arrive in Colorado within the next 10-day week, France said.
As the state plans to expand vaccinations, Brigadier-General Scott Sherman has said he is “entering into contracts with terms that will focus on going home, particularly at 65 and over to do so. vaccinate.
That will happen in the next few weeks, he said, once they finalize the contract.
CDPHE Immunization Section data analyst Rachel Severson also announced a new county-level data section on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard. Click here to explore the new functionality, which can be found on the right side of the screen under the “County Level Data” tab.
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