PITKIN COUNTY- On December 30, the Governor’s office announced new guidance for the COVID-19 Phase 1B group, which now includes people age 70 and older. As a Phase 1 Provider for Pitkin County, Community Health Services has not yet completed vaccinations of the highest-risk healthcare workers and first responders due to limited dose availability. Once healthcare workers and first responder vaccinations are complete, and additional doses are received, we will be able to move into the new 1B categories added yesterday.
The Pitkin County Public Health COVID website, today, launched a pre-registration form that will aid the team in communicating with those individuals on how and when they will be eligible for the vaccine. The site is located here: https://covid19.pitkincounty.com/vaccine/. People in the new 1B group do not need to contact hospitals or medical providers to pre-register for a vaccine at this time.
“Although we do not yet have enough vaccines in Pitkin County to immediately vaccinate those in the 70-plus age category, our new pre-registration program will allow us to identify and notify these individuals as soon as doses become available in our community,” said Carlyn Porter with Pitkin County Public Health.
Pitkin County Public Health and Community Health Services are waiting on additional vaccine supplies while developing a plan for vaccinating those Pitkin County residents age 70 and older as soon as possible. To date, Community Health Services has received 200 Moderna first-dose vaccines of a two-dose series.
Attorney General Phil Weiser is warning Coloradans that fraudsters may contact people to falsely tell them they can get vaccine doses. When responding to communications from a doctor, pharmacy or health department, verify the source and check the phone number. If you have questions about when a vaccine will be available for your age group or job, check with your doctor or local health department. And above all else, do not rely on unsubstantiated claims about a vaccine's availability.
How will I know when it is my turn to be vaccinated?
- Employees of select 1A and 1B agencies and organizations are the only ones being vaccinated at this time. Community Health Services and Pitkin County Public Health are working with community partners to identify these qualifying individuals.
- To be notified when a vaccine may be available for you, we are asking individuals to complete the Vaccine Pre-Registration form.You can complete the form by visiting covid19.pitkincounty.com/vaccine.
- If you do not have access to a computer or need assistance filling out the form, please call the Pitkin County Vaccination infoline at 970.429.3363 and leave your name and phone number and a representative will be in touch.
- Pitkin County COVID Response and Recovery is posting frequent updates in the news media, on Facebook, on our website and on the COVID vaccine page.
Essential Employers
Employers of essential workers identified as 1B or 2A are encouraged to reach out to communityliasion@pitkincounty.com with any questions. The Community Liaison team is developing guidance for Essential Employers to aid in their vaccination planning.
- 1B: Healthcare workers - inpatient and outpatient healthcare workers in moderate risk settings, such as non-COVID hospital floors, dental offices, behavioral health clinics, pharmacies and home health who have less direct contact with COVID-19 patients.
- Responders - staff working for Emergency Medical Services (EMS), fire, police, COVID response, corrections, and funeral services.
Additional 1B Categories (as of 12/30/2020)
- Frontline essential workers in education, food and agriculture, manufacturing, U.S. postal service, public transit and specialized transportation staff, grocery, and public health and direct care providers for Coloradans experiencing homelessness.
- Essential officials from executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.
- Essential frontline journalists.
Please note that we are still working on guidance for additional 1B categories as vaccines become available, and we encourage those agencies to reach out directly to communityliaison@pitkincounty.com.