The latest COVID vaccine is likely days away from approval, which means it could be in Colorado as soon as early next week, the state’s chief medical officer said Thursday.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine received positive early reviews from federal regulators this week, and it now needs another look by a Food and Drug Administration panel.

A vaccine advisory committee will then supply recommendations, said Eric France, the chief medical officer with the state Department of Public Health and Environment.

All of that could be completed and vaccines could be shipped within the next week to 10 days, he said, with the more optimistic projection being Monday.

Though the exact delivery date remains unknown, “the federal government has just communicated to us that we should expect around 45,000 doses” of the new vaccine once it is given the go-ahead, said Kate McIntire, the deputy director of the state’s vaccine task force.

The state is expecting further boosts from Moderna and Pfizer, the two previously approved vaccine-makers, after those companies promised a ramp-up in production.

Two months into its vaccine distribution effort, Colorado has doled out first doses to more than 824,000 residents.

Officials had planned to open up priorities to its next phase – those with certain health conditions and front-line workers – in the beginning of March.

France and McIntire both indicated that they were still expecting the move early next month but that the exact date is dependent upon supply.

France said the state needs at least 70% of its population to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity.

That target could be hit by Labor Day, he said, before schools reopen. It could even be earlier, in July.

As it has been since doses first rolled into Colorado in December, everything depends on supply. But France and others close to the state’s distribution process have been increasingly optimistic on that front in recent weeks. 

McIntire stressed that the state has the ability to handle and dole out more vaccines and that once shipments balloon in size, the state can “hopefully move through the phases more quickly.”

Up until this point, the populations eligible for vaccine have both been small enough and incentivized enough that the state hasn’t run into hesitancy issues, France said.

That may become more pronounced, though, as the broader public gets access. As the months wear on and the state moves into the full general population this summer, officials may need to be provide more encouragement to people, he said.

Sunday will mark the end of the state’s push to vaccine 70% of its 70-and-older population, though McIntire stressed that the state will still be encouraging and vaccinating older residents beyond that date.

As of Thursday, the state was 95% toward that goal and is making good progress, McIntire said, in vaccinating educators. 

National Guard Brig. Gen. Scott Sherman, the state’s point man for vaccine distribution, said there had been little hesitancy on the part of older residents and health care workers to be vaccinated.

But the state is beginning to see more of it among teachers, which he noted is a younger population.