‘Light at the end of the tunnel’: Summit County braces for wider vaccine distribution

Summit County has made considerable progress in recent weeks to slow the spread of COVID-19, and with vaccines in hand for distribution to residents of the county, there is a sense of optimism that the pandemic is over.

Despite the optimism, officials still urge community members to exercise caution and continue to take the necessary steps to ensure their safety and the safety of others as the county continues to roll out the vaccine in the coming months.

“With all of this great news, we would like to warn our community that, of course, we have a long, long, long way to go,” said Amy Wineland, director of public health for Summit County. “There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is long.”

Wineland joined other county officials in a press conference Wednesday afternoon to brief the public on progress in reducing COVID-19 numbers across the county and to provide new information on how managers will manage vaccine distribution in the future.

Wineland praised residents, visitors and businesses for helping to slow the spread over the past month after the number of cases peaked in late November. Over the past two weeks, the county’s case rate has been reduced to about 706 new cases per 100,000 Summit County residents, a drop of nearly 50% from a high of 1,352 per 100,000 at the End of november. The positivity rate, which reflects the number of tests that return positive, also fell sharply to 5.7% after peaking over 15% in early December.

These parameters should continue to decline as more residents are vaccinated. The county has already distributed nearly 1,000 doses, making the first vaccines available to frontline healthcare workers and first responders. On Thursday, December 31, the county will open vaccine distribution to Summit County residents aged 70 and over.

Initially, the vaccines were going to be offered only to residents 75 and older, but the county lowered the age limit to align with new guidelines from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced on Wednesday. December 30. 1,500 additional residents are now eligible for a total of about 3,000 people across the county. It is not known how the change will impact the vaccination schedule initially set by the county, as the allocation still largely depends on the number of doses the county receives in any given week.

“We currently don’t have 3,000 vaccines to administer,” Wineland said. “We have just over 800 of them. But we have to keep giving that to our community. … We know we get vaccines every week, so that’s great news. We don’t know how much we’re going to get next week before the end of the week. We’re planning and strategizing for the week, and we’re changing if we need to add more distribution sites… if we get more, that’s what happened this week. We were only expecting 200 and ended up getting three times that amount. “

The county currently has the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines – both considered 95% effective – which are distributed through pharmacies at Safeway in Frisco and City Market in Dillon and Breckenridge. Summit County Public Health also offers a drive-thru vaccination clinic by appointment at the Summit County Transit Depot in Frisco.

The decision to offer drive-thru distribution points was a deliberate county decision to reduce the risk of community members coming together. The drive-through clinic is also effective, allowing up to 80 people per hour to get vaccinated, according to Abbie Cobb, who is part of the North West region’s public health emergency preparedness and response staff.

Cobb said Summit County officials first practiced the drive-through system in 2017 as part of a state-wide exercise focused on dispensing antibiotics.

“It really benefited us in that we had the opportunity to plan it, put it in place, fill the positions and figure out what we needed to do,” Cobb said. “So when COVID started, we realized at one point that we would be where we are now with the vaccine and started having conversations in late spring about how best to do it.

People vaccinated through the drive-through clinic will pass through four stations: one to register, one to complete paperwork, one to get vaccinated, and a post-vaccination zone for officials to ensure people can leave safely.

Public health nurse Sara Lopez said it was important that even vaccinated community members continue to take all precautions to help protect their neighbors until the majority of the county is vaccinated and that the herd’s immunity is achieved.

“While we still have a lot of the virus in the community, it is absolutely essential that we all continue to protect ourselves, wear masks and practice the Six Covenants of Containment until time passes and we know it. more, and we will be able to vaccinate more, ”Lopez said.

Wineland said public health officials were targeting between 70% and 85% of those vaccinated for herd immunity.

Wineland also expressed confidence that vaccines and existing public health measures taken by community members will be effective in tackling a more contagious strain of coronavirus recently discovered in the state.

“It’s not unusual to see this happen,” Wineland said. “It happened with the Spanish flu, where over time it became more contagious and less fatal. Scientists are really convinced that the vaccine covers and will always be effective against this new strain. But what’s really important for people to understand first and foremost is that we know how to protect ourselves. We need to make sure we continue to follow through on these six commitments and continue to protect our community at the same time as we continue to get these vaccines off the shelves and put them in arms as quickly as possible, so we can get out of this hole. . we’ve been here for so long.

Community members who have already made an appointment say they are excited to help reduce the risk of COVID-19 in the community.

“(Thursday) I’m getting the vaccine, and I’m very happy to reduce the risk and get back to life as soon as possible,” said Don Wolf, a 77-year-old resident of Silverthorne.