Colorado officials Monday warned that though the spread of COVID in the state has stabilized in recent weeks, measures needed to continue the slowdown will remain in place until at least the spring amid a sluggish vaccine rollout from the federal government.

As they have for weeks, officials said the biggest barrier is the state’s relatively weekly small allocation. But once the state’s efforts to vaccinate its 70-and-older population is completed, it will focus next on teachers and child care workers so the state can continue to hold in-person learning. But that effort is still several weeks away, at least. 

Though the state has started to turn to segments of the general population, it has also warned that it will take weeks to vaccine those older than 69 years, and they asked for patience as they try to dole out doses “as quickly as we can” said Scott Bookman, the state’s COVID incident commander.

The state is still on track to vaccinate its 70-and-older population by the end of February. But providers and patients have complained about the difficulty of signing up for the waiting lists, a process that’s focused on the use of online portals.

In an effort to at least partially address this frustration, officials said Monday the state has set up a hotline – 1 877 268-2926 – to answer questions about the vaccine.

The hotline will be staffed by 50 operators, Bookman said, and will be open 13 hours a day to begin with, before switching to 24 hours by Feb. 1.

But even with the hotline, patients will still have to communicate directly with hospitals, retail pharmacies or other distributors to get signed up, which presents similar problems as before.

Once the state is done vaccinating its older residents, it will turn to essential workers such as manufacturers, grocery store staff and front-line journalists.

The bulk of the effort with health care workers and first responders has already been concluded, though moderate-risk health care employees are still being inoculated.

The efforts in the state’s long-term care facility are also nearing their end, officials said.

As of Monday, 204 of 209 skilled-nursing facilities have held clinics, though assisted-living centers are further behind. Many patients and staff still need to receive their second dose, as well.

But 1.3 million people still need to be vaccinated in the tail end of phase 1B, said Brigadier General Scott Sherman, who’s been overseeing distribution.

All of them will have to be inoculated, via shipments of fewer than 100,000 doses per week, before the state can begin to turn to the rest of the population. 

It will take long enough, officials said, that Coloradans should expect to continue to wear masks and socially distance into the summer. 

Meanwhile, the state is still tracking the prevalence of the new COVID variant first identified in the United Kingdom.

Though there have been only 10 cases in Colorado identified, the new strain is “concerning,” said state epidemiologist Rachel Herlihy, given that health officials believe the variant might not only be more transmissible but that it also be more deadly than first anticipated.

Officials have said the current mitigation efforts – masking, social distancing – will continue to work for the new variant.

Moderna, the maker of one of the two currently available vaccines, said in a statement that its vaccine would still be effective against the U.K. strain.