Coloradans ages 60 and older can begin receiving vaccinations next week, with the potential for inoculation efforts to reach the general public as soon as late April, Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday.

Along with the 60-and-older population, Colorado will open up vaccinations to those who have two or more of certain risk factors, and agricultural and grocery store workers as soon as on March 5. That makes more than 950,000 additional residents eligible for vaccine, said Scott Bookman, the state’s COVID incident commander.

Then, the state will begin vaccinating its last priority groups ahead of the general public. As soon as March 21, vaccines will open up to those over 49 years old; some higher education staff and faculty; restaurant and food service workers; essential workers within the postal service and manufacturing industries; faith leaders; frontline journalists; and workers within public health, transportation and health care for the homeless. 

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That group is large – roughly 2.5 million people – and Bookman said it’s “going to require patience and it’s going to require a significant increase in vaccine supply.”

Fortunately, that appears to have happened: Polis and Bookman both said the state was able to begin vaccinating additional priority groups in March because of increased supply.

National Guard Brig. Gen. Scott Sherman said the state will receive more than 400,000 doses in March from Pfizer and Moderna, and he also said Colorado should get 400,000 additional doses of the soon-to-be approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Like Bookman, he pleaded for patience. 

Polis said vaccinating those 50-and-up and other groups eligible in late March should take three to five weeks. That means the state could begin vaccinating to the rest of the public in mid-April, if vaccine supply improves significantly.

The general public may need to wait until mid-May if supply doesn’t pick up as much as hoped. The largest group to get the vaccine could also be divided by age, with those 40-and-up getting first crack at inoculations. 

Polis and other health officials have said that Colorado needs 70% of its population vaccinated to reach herd immunity. The governor’s set a goal of inoculating 70% of the state’s 70-and-up population and has set similar standards for other groups. He said the state is on track for such benchmarks for both K-12 educators and those 70 and up.

“When you have the opportunity to sign up and you’re eligible, get vaccinated,” he said.

The announcements represented the latest tweak to the state’s ever-shifting priority guidelines. Initially, there were three phases, with the general public being last. Now there are just two, but phase one has gobbled up every other group but the general public.

Polis said the categories were based on supply. He said he preferred to establish priority groups and timelines based on when doses will actually be available.

“I think it would’ve led to more frustration if we told people March 5 but in fact vaccines weren’t there for them,” he said.

Though Colorado has pushed down its COVID case counts, as well as hospitalizations, infections have been on an uptick in recent days. Health officials said earlier this week that they’re not exactly sure what’s causing this plateauing, which came after weeks of near-constant declines.