Colorado is launching an education campaign to encourage Black and Latino seniors to get vaccinated, in the wake of a survey that shows only about 50% of women in those populations are comfortable with getting vaccinated. 

Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday the state is working to equitably distribute vaccines across the state. 

As of Friday, about 6% of Coloradans have been vaccinated, mostly health care workers and more recently, those 70 years and older. Polis said he hopes that the older population, which has the highest death rate from COVID-19, will be 70% vaccinated by Feb. 28.

It’s a tough challenge, given that the state is only getting about 83,000 vaccines per week, a quantity Polis said is unlikely to change in the next two weeks. After that, he said the state is expecting a “modest” increase to around 100,000 or 110,000 per week. 

That could change, assuming the Johnson & Johnson and Astrazeneca vaccines come online soon. According to CNN, Janssen – Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine division- anticipates submitting its data to the Food and Drug Administration within weeks, and pending approval, could be shipping vaccines by the end of March. AstraZeneca’s vaccine is still in clinical trials, delayed over concerns about data, and isn’t likely to apply for FDA approval until later in the spring. 

Polis also acknowledged Friday that there has been a lot of confusion about how seniors can get vaccinated. 

Part of the problem may be seniors are reluctant or unable to use computers or don’t have internet access to sign up for appointments, so many providers have added phone numbers, Polis explained.

The governor explained that since the state got its first vaccine, his administration has focused on ways to make vaccines more equitable. That includes a vaccine outreach team that includes Jill Hunsaker Ryan of the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment; Rick Palacio, a strategic adviser in the governor’s office; former Denver City Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth and Chicano activist Nita Gonzales.

Priorities include equitable distribution to communities of color and low-income Coloradans, both groups that sometimes have poor health outcomes, Polis said.

About 60% of vaccines are going to large hospital systems and retail pharmacies; another 15% each to community health clinics and community partners; and 10% reserved for the Governor’s equity task force, which distributes those vaccines to hard-to-reach communities, Palacio said.

The equitable distribution plan includes several strategies:

• “pop up” clinics in half of the top 50 census tracts (small subdivisions of a county) for high-density, low-income and minority communities
• community partnerships to reach those communities of color
• efforts to “demystify” vaccine access
• distributions to pharmacies in underserved communities
• a multilingual education campaign, with ads in English and Spanish

Data on just who’s getting vaccinated is about to change as well. New public health orders to providers will require them to capture demographic data, including ethnicity and race. 

Polis emphasized that the vaccine is free and that income and health insurance, or the lack thereof, is not a barrier to getting one.

“Everyone has access regardless of immigration status,” he said. Vaccine providers cannot require a driver’s license or proof of citizenship for someone to get a vaccine. That also applies to those who may get health care somewhere other than their home county. Anyone 70-plus is eligible no matter where they live, Polis said. “You don’t have to stay in your county.”

He also said there hasn’t been a demonstrable number of people coming into Colorado to get vaccinated.

“Every state is in the same situation. You won’t get it quicker here or anywhere else,” he said.

The hope is to get to 70% of the 70-plus population vaccinated, he said. Given that those 16 years and younger are not yet able to be vaccinated, it becomes that much more important that adults get vaccinated, Ryan said.

The Biden administration announced this week that they intend to deploy personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Administration to set up 100 mass vaccine sites across the country. That’s a different strategy than what Colorado is working on, but Polis said “we’re for ‘all of the above.’ ” The only limiting factor is the amount of vaccines. Polis indicated he is hopeful the federal government will be more communicative about dose counts. 

He also addressed a concern from those who have gotten the first vaccine dose, and whether there will be vaccines available for the second.

“We will have that vaccine for that person” when it’s time for the second dose, Polis said. “If we have to, we will reduce first vaccines to ensure there’s enough second vaccines.”

Inmates 70 years and older at the state’s correctional facilities are now vaccinated, Polis said Friday. That’s about 215 total, according to the Department of Corrections. An additional 2,153 staff at those facilities have been vaccinated.