He did not mention the appearance of a new, more contagious, type of COVID-19 detected by the state lab in a sample of a Colorado National Guardsman working in a nursing home in Eastern Plains. It was the first detection of the strain in the US, and a second warden is also suspected of being infected with it.
The variant – known as the B.1.1.7 variant – apparently does not make people sicker, but does spread faster than the COVID-19 which has infected more than 330 000 Coloradans since March. And more infections are likely to lead to more hospitalizations, should the variant become widespread as suspected by public health experts.
Mark Johnson, incoming president of the Colorado Medical Society and interim director of public health in Jefferson County, said he believes it is a mistake for Polis to loosen the restrictions amid holiday weekends, and with an as yet unknown amount of the more contagious variant in the state.
“The limited resources that local public health agencies have to respond to the COVID-19 virus and launch vaccination campaigns are constantly stretched by arbitrary changes to the disk measurements that are not shared with us prior to their announcements,” Johnson wrote. . in a statement to CPR News. “This new surprise is not just about changing the turnpike, but is more like turning into goal posts in a soccer net.”
Johnson said it would have been better to wait for the new year and look at the case numbers.
‘Although statistics are currently moving in the right direction, concerns about the Christmas and New Year holidays and the presence of a more contagious variant in the state leave many people in local public health worried that the reduction of restrictions is currently on the rise. cases will lead. and the need to sharpen things up again, thus sweeping businesses and contributing to confusion, ‘Johnson said.
But Polis bases his optimism on the arrival of vaccines that provide immunity to the virus. Earlier on Wednesday, he again surprised local public health officials by extending the pool of eligible Category 1-B vaccine recipients to everyone in Colorado over 70, as well as a variety of workers deemed essential, such as teachers , grocery stores, transport workers and some journalists.
State of ColoradoThe decision to add hundreds of thousands of newly eligible people to the next group to be vaccinated, Polis announced at a morning press conference, also surprised directors in the country for public health. They are still trying to get the first doses to medical workers in the front line, and along with pharmacies, local staff and residents of the nursing home.
The announcement caused phone calls at hospitals, doctors’ offices and public health agencies across the state as elderly people tried to get information on where and when it would be vaccinated – details that do not currently exist.
“We understand that people are excited and anxious to receive their vaccine,” Garfield County Public Health Director Yvonne Long said in a release. “We are sorry for any confusion, as the criteria for 1B have changed today. Although we do not yet have enough vaccines in Garfield County to vaccinate those in the age group of more than 70 years, we are working on a plan to do so as soon as we can. ‘
Late Wednesday, CDPHE released a release acknowledging the lack of detail surrounding the extension of suitability and asking Coloradans to call 303-389-1687 or 877-462-2911, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. or Saturday and Sunday, 9 p.m. 17:00 for more information on the distribution of vaccines. “We understand that people are excited and anxious to receive their vanity in the coming days.”
“Several provinces plan to hold mass vaccination clinics for members of their communities,” according to the same CDPHE news release. ‘In the coming days and as more information is finalized, we will publish additional vaccine distribution sites on the state’s website. ”