Summit County residents who are 75 or older can begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccination in the coming days, the first distribution of the inoculation to members of Colorado’s general public.

The announcement would’ve been months ahead of schedule; the state’s priority plan put health care workers, residents and staff of long-term care facilities, and first responders at the front of the line.

Those 65 or older, who are particularly at risk of hospitalization and death from COVID, would have to wait until the early spring.

But at a news conference Wednesday morning, Gov. Jared Polis announced the state had tweaked its priorities.

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It now put those 70 and older into the first tier, to be vaccinated this winter.

Polis said it will take four to five weeks for the state to give first doses to the state’s residents who are 70 and older.

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He said the adjustment is possible because of the supply of vaccine, and he praised the change as a game-changer that could end the most critical part of the pandemic: The risk to Colorado’s older, more susceptible residents.

The change to the priorities now also gives winter priority to front-line workers in non-medical fields such as education, agriculture, manufacturing and other industries that have continued working in-person and often in close quarters throughout the pandemic.

It also includes members of the state government.

In a news release before Polis’s announcement, Summit County officials said they were able to expand their distribution capabilities because of their supply.

“Summit County received several hundred more doses of Moderna vaccine than originally anticipated, and we are happy to be able to offer the opportunity for our residents in one of the highest risk categories to receive the vaccine to protect themselves this week,” Amy Wineland, the county’s public health director, said in a news release. 

“This is truly a holiday gift.”

Colorado has been receiving vaccine shipments for more than two weeks, a supply line bolstered by the recent approval of the Moderna vaccine.

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The vaccines will be free, as they should be most everywhere.

Patients are required to present an ID to confirm their residency, and the effort is a partnership among the county, Safeway and City Market.

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As of Wednesday morning, the state has administered more than 84,000 doses of the vaccine.