Teachers, Coloradans 65 and older eligible for vaccines starting Feb. 8

by Kyle Cooke • Published on January 29, 2021

DENVER — Governor Jared Polis announced January 29 that educators and Coloradans 65 years old and up will be eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccine starting February 8.

“Every vaccine administered is one step closer to ending the pandemic,” Polis said.

The state has met its vaccination goals thus far, allowing for the expansion to other groups. Governor Polis said that 90% of front line health care workers have received a COVID-19 vaccine, and that 100% of the state’s skilled nursing facilities have received at least the first dose of the vaccine.

Public health officials have set a goal of vaccinating 70% of the state's 70+ population by the end of February. Polis said they are on pace to meet that goal, and as of January 29, 40% of that population has received a vaccine.

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“Here in Colorado we’re doing everything we can to win the race against time, the race against the virus and its more contagious variants,” Polis said.

The governor said he believes the state could vaccinate every k-12 educator who wants a vaccine in the span of three weeks. This includes support staff like bus drivers.

The Colorado Education Association, the largest teachers union in the state, applauded the announcement.

This is a huge step forward towards getting students back into the classroom. We need to continue to wear masks, social distance, limit gatherings, and do our part to further reduce the spread of the virus in our communities.
— Colorado Education Association (@ColoradoEA) January 29, 2021

Polis said information on vaccines will be provided to teachers by their respective school districts.

Officials with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment joined Polis at the press conference to give an update on the state’s phased vaccine distribution plan. Coloradans between the ages of 65 and 69 were previously in Phase 2, but will now be included in Phase 1B.2.

Scott Bookman, incident commander with CDPHE, said there are roughly 408,100 Coloradans included in Phase 1B.2:

288,000 people ages 65-69
120,000 educators and school staff
100 essential “continuity of state government” employees

Coloradans between the ages of 65 and 69 are encouraged to register for a vaccine by going to cocovidvaccine.org. Alternatively, they can call the new vaccine hotline at 1-877-CO VAX CO (1-877-268-2926).

Bookman said CDPHE has a goal of vaccinating at least 55% of Coloradans in Phase 1B.2 by March 8.

On March 5, CDPHE plans to begin administering vaccines to people in Phase 1B.3, which includes essential workers (grocery store employees, postal workers, and front line journalists, to name a few) as well as Coloradans ages 16 to 64 with two or more comorbidities.

Including an estimated 1.1 million people, Phase 1B.3 is a much larger group than previous phases. Of that total, roughly 750,000 are essential workers.

Teachers, Coloradans 65 and older eligible for vaccines starting Feb. 8

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