More than 1 million COVID-19 vaccines…
More than 1 million COVID-19 vaccines administered in Colorado, state health officials say
Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are also trending down, state epidemiologist said
Dillon Lind, a nursing student from Metropolitan State University of Denver, gives the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to Patrick Jiner, a math teacher at Lake Middle School. Denver Health hosts a COVID-19 vaccine clinic to immunize staff members of Denver Public Schools at the Denver Health Outpatient Medical Center on Feb. 13, 2021 in Denver.
By Conrad Swanson Dp | cswanson@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED: February 18, 2021 at 7:32 p.m. | UPDATED: February 18, 2021 at 7:33 p.m.
More than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to Coloradans to date as public health officials are nearing their goal of inoculating 70% of all people 70 and older, state representatives said Thursday.
So far, 748,151 people have received their first vaccine dose and 333,859 people have received their second shot, Kate McIntire, deputy director of the state's Vaccine Task Force, said during a news briefing. And 337,124 people 70 and up have received at least one vaccine shot — 56,276 vaccinations short of meeting the goal Gov. Jared Polis set for the end of February.
That's good progress for the state, McIntire said. One of the biggest priorities this year for the Polis administration is getting vaccines into the arms of Coloradans. State officials are looking to the federal government for more doses each week and facing delays in deliveries after winter storms blew across much of the country.
"It is looking like most of our shipments for this week should be delivered today through Saturday," McIntire said.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are continuing to trend down, said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, the state epidemiologist. Currently, 425 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus across Colorado, down from the peak of 1,847 in December.
But officials are continuing to watch for new strains of the virus that have the potential to be more infectious and cause more severe symptoms, Herlihy said. So far, state officials have identified 71 cases of the COVID-19 variant first seen in the United Kingdom, she said. Other strains first identified in South Africa and Brazil have not been found so far in Colorado, though.
While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned the U.K. variant could become the dominant strain in the United States by March, Herlihy said it's not clear what the future might hold for Colorado. Continuing work to prevent transmission could combat that strain's emergence.
To that end, Kevin Klein, director of the state's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said Colorado officials are now well stocked with protective equipment and are distributing some of that gear to school districts to be given to teachers and staff who interact with students and other people daily. The goal is to distribute more than 8 million masks to schools across the state.
As of Thurday, Colorado has recorded 417,415 positive COVID-19 cases and 5,864 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began.
Conrad Swanson Dp | Denver City Hall Reporter
Conrad Swanson covers Denver politics on The Denver Post's political team. An Iowa native, he joined the paper in November 2019 after stints at the Colorado Springs Gazette, Lawrence Journal-World (Kansas) and Sioux City Journal (Iowa). He graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a focus in economics. He is a member of the Investigative Reporters and Editors organization and was awarded a 2019 fellowship for the National Press Foundation's Spotlight on Statehouse and Local Reporting Program. He also won awards for sustained coverage in Colorado and political and investigative coverage in Kansas.
cswanson@denverpost.com
Follow Conrad Swanson Dp	@conrad_swanson
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