Colorado teachers and educators to get COVID-19 vaccine first among essential workers – The Denver Post

Colorado teachers and educators will be the first essential workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 after most people over 70 receive their vaccine, the chief of the vaccine distribution efforts of the city said Monday. ‘State.

High-risk healthcare workers and nursing home residents – making up Phase 1A of the state’s distribution plan – were the first to receive coronavirus vaccines when shipments began arriving in the Colorado last month.

At the end of December, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said essential workers, ranging from grocery store workers to teachers, would be included in Phase 1B, along with 70 people. years and older. A week later, he clarified that those workers would be below a “dotted line” in phase 1B, and would have to wait until more older people were vaccinated.

Discussions are underway over priorities in critical worker groups, the Colorado National Guard Brigadier said. General Scott Sherman, but a consensus has formed around the importance of reopening daycares, preschools and K-12 schools.

“Teachers are going to be the first priority… to learn in person,” Sherman said at a morning press conference.

Scott Bookman, the state health department’s COVID-19 incident commander, also announced that the state has set up a hotline for people who have had difficulty signing up for the vaccine: 877 -268-2926 (CO-VAX-CO). The state does not maintain a central waiting list, but the hotline will help connect eligible people to providers who can sign them up, he said.

If the state meets its goal of vaccinating 70% of Coloradans aged 70 or older by February 28, essential workers could start getting vaccinated in late February or early March. If nothing changes in the prioritization schedule, people in their 60s and younger with chronic conditions who are not frontline workers would come next as part of Phase 2 this spring, along with young adults and d healthy middle age – phase 3 – their turn in summer.

The state health department estimates that Colorado has approximately 562,000 residents aged 70 or older and approximately 628,000 essential frontline workers.

Governor Jared Polis previously said that when about half of a priority group has been vaccinated, the state will open access to the next group. The idea is to avoid a lag by sticking to priorities too rigidly, he said.

A handful of teachers received their first injection in the week before state guidelines changed to prioritize people over 70 first. Those who received one vaccine were allowed to get the second, but their colleagues who did not get the vaccine so quickly had to wait.

Support staff in some districts in the metro area, including Denver public schools, may be vaccinated in the current phase. Districts view mental health professionals and physiotherapists as medical personnel and security guards as first responders, according to Chalkbeat.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Colorado is ranked ninth in the country for the percentage of its population vaccinated, Sherman said.

Colorado had administered 458,441 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday morning, state officials said. As of Sunday, the state had received 594,440 doses.