One year ago, the United States discovered its first case of COVID-19. That one case built into a tsunami of cases and no one group felt the impact more than our senior population. The numbers explain why - According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the COVID-19 death rate among individuals 80 year and older is more than 53%.
For this population, the vaccine is a lifeline. It means doing simple things like going to the grocery store or hugging a grandchild. It also means returning to work or chasing your retirement dreams. This explains why the atmosphere inside Mercy Family Medicine’s Three Springs clinic felt like a celebration. Nurses there put needles into the arms of more than 100 people, moving them on step closer to freedom.
We approach our vaccine invitations week-by-week. Mercy typically receives confirmation of our allotment from the State of Colorado between Friday and Sunday. Then on Monday, we begin sending out first-dose invitations based on that allotment. Our vaccine clinics run Wednesday through Sunday, so that gives the teams time to process the invitations and fill the schedules.
Centura has stood up 35 vaccine clinics across Colorado, both in community-based clinics and in our hospitals. By the week of January 25, we will have the ability to administer 14,000 vaccines per week. The week of February 8, we increase will increase to 16,000 individuals each week. And finally, the week of February 24, we will have the capability to deliver more than 22,000 vaccinations per week.
We understand everyone is excited to get the vaccine, but this process will take time and there are limited supplies of the vaccine. If you have not signed up to get your dose, we encourage you to do so. Centura.org has a link on its COVID-19 vaccine page that allows all Coloradans to sign up for COVID-19 vaccine notifications and information, regardless of whether they’re an existing patient. That web link is https://www.centura.org/covid-19/covid-19-vaccine-information.
