By Associated Press - Wednesday, January 6, 2021

DENVER (AP) - Gov. Jared Polis sought Wednesday to assure residents that the state is vaccinating against COVID-19 as quickly as it can, urging patience and continued personal precautions against the coronavirus as officials target highly vulnerable populations in the campaign’s initial stages.

The Democratic governor had come under criticism over the holidays for slightly easing statewide restrictions on businesses without notice and adjusting a vaccination plan that put residents 70 and older in a high-priority vaccination category ahead of teachers.

Polis defended those decisions on Wednesday, arguing in the first instance that a recent downward trend in COVID-19 hospitalizations allowed the easing of restrictions on businesses, which have had to cope with multiple and often confusing changes in those restrictions throughout the pandemic.

The governor insisted that vaccinating residents 70 years of age and older will significantly reduce virus deaths, saying that that age group accounts for nearly 80% of the nearly 4,000 COVID-19 deaths to date in Colorado.

Frontline health workers are getting the first of two vaccine shots in the first stage, as are long-term care staff and residents under a federal arrangement with Walgreens and CVS pharmacies. That accounts for 187,000 people in a phase that should conclude this week. The next priority is to vaccinate as many residents 70 and older as possible by Feb. 28, said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the state health department.

Over the next two months, frontline workers such as bus drivers, grocery, farm and manufacturing workers will be eligible for vaccines, Ryan said. That group potentially encompasses 1.3 million people, she said. The general population can expect vaccine availability this summer.

Teachers can expect their vaccines beginning in March, Ryan said. To boost confidence in school environments, Polis announced that Colorado will offer 1 million rapid-testing home kits per month to public and private schools for regular screening by school teachers and staff.

Flexibility and patience are key, Polis and Ryan said. Colorado gets roughly 70,000 vaccine doses per week from the U.S. government, but the numbers vary. Some rural areas may see older residents vaccinated before even top-tier candidates in other areas. The state has told hospitals and healthcare providers to avoid waste by administering available vaccines as soon as possible.

“We’re ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the country,” Polis said of the more than 120,000 residents who’ve received a vaccine shot since the first shipment arrived Dec. 14.

Two Colorado residents confirmed to have a new variant of the coronavirus that may be more contagious are in good condition, Ryan said. Experts say the vaccines being given now are thought to be effective against it.

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